The Best Years
by cloudlessS M I L E
Summary: He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen? AU.
1. Pilot

**Story Title: **The Best Years  
**Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?

**Chapter Rating: **PG  
**Author's Note:** This story is AU. All character's histories are tweaked somewhat-very much so to match my idea of this story. Please, keep an open mind.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter One: Pilot  
**

"Dad!" a petite blonde girl cried out from the kitchen, a glass filled with orange juice in her hand as she read the newspaper in front of her. She was always one to keep up with the current events.

"Was there really a need to scream?" a man asked, entering the large kitchen before giving his daughter a quick kiss on the side of the head as he passed her. Grabbing himself some coffee, the man joined his daughter at the breakfast island counter in the middle of the kitchen eyeing her as if to tell her that he needed to read the paper.

With a groan, she handed it to him, finishing off her orange juice. "You know, it's not like you read all of it anyway. I think we should tell the paper boy to separate the sports section and the _real_ news." she informed her father before grabbing her book bag and her car keys.

"Haley-Bop," he interrupted, spinning around on his bar stool with a text book in his hand.

"Thanks, Dad." she gave her own father a kiss on the forehead as she skipped out of the kitchen and towards the front entrance. "I'll see you at school Dad, or should I say Coach James!" she called out loudly, hearing her voice echo throughout the house and then headed out the door. This was the residence of the James family, a large - very classic - mansion located in Charlotte. Her father was none other than the Charlotte Bobcats' Coach; which she can confidently let you all know that we're talking about _basketball. _The white house was much like a home you saw in movies where the rich and famous lived, only Haley was famous - not yet anyway. She had her dreams, but being famous wasn't one of them, it would just help her dream of being a musician.

------------------

Haley James drove down the street, heading towards her best friend's house, exactly ten blocks away from her own. Yes, she counted. It got boring with nothing to talk to in the passenger's seat of her gray BMW convertible. Rolling up the driveway, she put the car in park making sure that she didn't scare herself by going backwards in her car like the first time she had after getting her license. Peyton Sawyer, the curly petite blonde was her best friend, and anyone who was anyone knew that the girls were inseperable. Wherever one would be, you'd find the other. It also helped that they were both looking at careers in music. But Peyton was looking more towards the management side, rather than the singing and playing side.

Honking the horn, she smiled softly as she saw Mrs. Sawyer come out of the house. "Good morning Haley!" she called out, waving towards the girl that was practically like her second daughter.

"Morning, Mrs. S!" the blonde responded with a wave, "I wouldn't be so bold as to call it a good one - after all, it's seven in the morning." she informed the woman as the mother laughed and shook her head, picking up the newspaper and then almost bumping into her daughter.

"Hi Mom. Bye Mom." Peyton said quickly, obviously in a rush as she quickly threw on a sweater and let her bag fly behind her as she hopped into the car. "I might be a little late to our dinner plans, we've got cheerleading tryouts!" she called out to her mother, blowing a fake movie star kiss towards her as the three women laughed.

"Lets hope they have some better ones than last year. Drive safely now Hales. I want my daughter home without a scratch." Mrs. Sawyer joked, knowing Haley wasn't exactly the best driver. Clutching the newspaper, she watched the two girls that seemed to have grown up in just a blink of an eye drive down the hill of a driveway and disappeared out of sight.

"You should have brought your iPod, Sawyer." Haley told her friend as she surfed through the radio stations, making sure to look up and take notice as to who was in front of her and where exactly everything was. She couldn't afford another accident, or another ticket for that matter. This was why her boyfriend usually drove her to school, or even Peyton did. But somehow, as for some strange turn of events, Peyton's car had managed to end up in the auto body shop, rather than her own.

"Well sorry. I didn't have time. I slept in. Unlike you who can't wait to get to school every morning." Peyton retorted, nudging her friend before rolling her eyes. "And keep your eyes on the road! I don't want to die in a car accident." she decided simply.

* * *

Haley ran her fingers through her hair, making sure to move her bangs out of her eyes as she held a text book for her English class to her chest before walking into the large gym that belonged to her college; Duke University. She had always dreamed about going to Stanford, that was her dream school - and always would be, but somehow she had managed to give into her father and let him force her into going a school she had no interest in until the last year of high school. The only fortunate part was having her best friend of eighteen years there with her.

Walking into the gym, she scanned through the crowd of basketball players, searching for a certain blonde. The blonde that she called her boyfriend. A guy that everyone was convinced that she'd end up marrying and the two would rule the world. They were a part of two of the most wealthiest families around and their parents just assumed that they might as well combine to become even more powerful than they already were. Haley? Well, Haley didn't feel like it was true love, but she'd do whatever to make her father happy.

She noticed her father in the bleachers and she waved after seeing him wave, adding a small smile as she let her arm join her other arm quickly afterwards back to clutching her books. Her dad was out scouting for some new players for their next season, and since it was almost graduation time, that was usually what he was always doing. Going school to school, but there was always Duke University to rely on if you couldn't find any players good enough. Sitting down at the bottom of the empty bleachers with a few exceptions in a few places around the gym, she finally noticed her boyfriend and shot a smile towards him as he nodded in her direction.

Letting her text book fall to her lap, she sat silently, watching the different scrimmages and the mini game that the team played until the practice was over. Throughout the full half an hour she had been sitting there, she had managed to notice a new guy on the team. A brunette. Someone that must have been new seeing as he was pretty good and she hadn't seen him play before. And that said a lot seeing as how she was the daughter of a basketball coach and went to pretty much every game - also being a cheerleader.

"Hey." she had a familiar voice say. Haley had managed to walk over near the changing rooms and lean against the wall to wait for the blonde boy. The blonde basketball star that was known across the country as the captain of the Duke University's team, and the guy that was guaranteed a spot on the Charlotte Bobcats for dating the daughter of the coach, and having the talent that he possessed. It was pure talent, he was born with it, and Haley knew it from growing up with him.

"Hey hotshot." Haley responded with a small smile as she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. "You took a shower right?" she questioned, knowing that she didn't like the smell of sweaty guys. It was just... wrong.

"Yes, Hales. I took a shower." Lucas said with a small laugh as one arm immediately found its place around his girlfriend's shoulders before heading towards the doors of the stadium.

"Who's the new kid?" she questioned, the curiously getting the best of her; as it usually did. Haley noticed the kid outside of the stadium immediately as he looked as though he was struggling with some of his stuff. But, she didn't dare go and help it - that would be 'uncool' in Lucas' eyes, and not only that but Lucas was the jealous type. It just wouldn't end well, and with them being teammates... well lets just say it wouldn't be a good outcome as said above.

"Oh, some Nathan kid. Last name's Lee or something, I don't remember. He just transferred from some community college. As long as he gives me the ball things'll be great between him and I." Lucas answered as the two made their way past 'Nathan'. "How about lunch, pretty lady?" Lucas pulled Haley close to him and kissed the top of her head, always taking notice in his head about how much taller he was than her.

"Sounds good." she nodded her head, shooting a side glance quickly at Nathan before looking up at Lucas as he kissed her head.


	2. Apple Candy

**Story Title: **The Best Years  
**Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Rated:** PG -- for some minor language  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to know.)  
Cheerleading tryouts are a disaster as Haley meets an old acquaintance who slept with her boyfriend in high school. Peyton second guesses her relationship with Lucas as Nathan meets the Coach's daughter, Haley.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Apple Candy  
**

Another injury forced upon another cheerleader. Another open spot needed to fill. "You know, I don't even understand why we're doing this. Why can't we just let Stacy and... I don't know, Rachel, do these stupid tryouts? It's not like we want to be here... getting traumatized." Peyton complained for what was the fifteenth time that day as her and Haley waited for the next person to come into the gym.

"Because, you know you can't trust Rachel to pick the most qualified person. She'll choose the girl with the shortest shorts, or the girl that does the sluttiest dance. Much like she did; why is she on the squad again?" the blonde shook her head with a small laugh as she tapped a pen on the table in front of her. "How long does it take to walk through a door?"

Peyton laughed as a brunette walked through the door, CD in hand. Handing the music to Haley, she put the CD into the player and eyed the girl. "Ready?" she asked as the brunette nodded her head and the blonde turned the music on, leaning back in her chair immediately afterwards.

As the minutes went by and the music soon faded out and came to a stop, Haley opened up the CD player and nodded slightly before looking at Peyton and handing the CD back to the girl. "Brooke Davis, right?" she spoke up finally as Brooke nodded a yes.

"Yeah." Brooke spun the CD around on her finger as she ran her free hand through her hair, glancing from the two blondes, looking for any type of sign that she did alright. "I actually tried out earlier, but I didn't get it. I personally didn't really understand why, the other girl that was here last time said I was great."

Haley shot a glare towards the girl that was standing in front of her as her fingers played with the earring in her ear, trying to figure out why the girl didn't understand the situation at hand. "Well, when you try to steal someone's boyfriend that's usually what happens." she spoke up, her voice full of agitation towards the girl. She had some nerve.

Peyton bit the bottom of her lip, a hand shooting to the back of her neck awkwardly. She knew what Haley thought about people to cheated, and she knew that this was the girl who had tried to steal Lucas before, and had actually succeeded one night when Haley and some girls walked in on them during a tournament in high school. She turned her attention back towards Brooke, who was now shuffling her feet awkwardly on the ground as if she didn't know what to say so she made the noise with her feet to make up for the silence.

"You can go now." Haley said simply.

* * *

"I'll see you two later, I've got to go see if my dad's still around." Haley announced to Peyton and Lucas before kissing Lucas and waving to the both of them. Lucas watched carefully, waiting for Haley to disappear into the distance before he shot a glance towards Peyton quickly and led the way to the library; their usual meeting place. Lucas may be a jock, but he did enjoy a few good books here and there, and Peyton's excuse was just to get some peace and quiet to work on her drawings. Which is where the two met, where the two had first started these little rendez-vous.

Pulling Peyton into an aisle of the book cases, he pinned her up against the fantasy section and crashed his lips upon hers. But, for some reason, Peyton wasn't as enthused as she usually was. The interaction with that girl, Brooke, had made her a little nervous, not to mention it made her feel like the worst best friend in the world. Lucas Scott was Haley's. Everyone knew that. They were supposed to get married, and have hot little basketball playing children, and... well you get the picture.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, concern written in his voice after pulling away and looking the girl in the eye.

"Nothing..." Peyton lied, but she was hesitant about her answer. If there was anything she had learned the past few years, it was that Lucas knew her inside and out. He could read her like an open book, even if the girl had gotten very good at hiding her emotions from everyone else. Lucas eyed Peyton, not even opening his mouth to tell her thatt he knew that was crap. "Fine. I'm lying." she said with a sigh falling from her lips as she finally joined Lucas' gaze. "It's just, remember that girl, Brooke?"

Lucas moved his glance down to the ground, he had to admit that cheating on Haley with Brooke definitely wasn't one of the smartest moves he could have done, but lets think about this - was cheating on Haley with her best friend any smarter?

"Yeah, exactly. You should have seen it, the way she looked at her. I don't want to be that girl, Luke." she told him honestly. Peyton had always had her insecurities about what they were doing, but the fact was that they had already done it. And the blonde was falling for Lucas with each moment she spoke to him, each moment she saw him and she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop herself either. Like people say 'you can't help who you fall in love with'.

"I know, and I don't want to be that guy." Lucas told her honestly. For a while in high school, he was. He got those death glares and those 'jerk' remarks that he knew really meant words that Haley was too nice to say, but you always knew that that's what she really meant. He didn't want that. Not only would it hurt his basketball career, but it would hurt Haley, and that was the last thing he wanted. Although he knew that he wasn't totally in love, sparks fly, butterflies come out everytime he sees her - that kind of love, he still loved her with all his heart. And there once was a time where it was like that, but he just guessed over time... those sparks went out, and those butterflies died or flew away.

"I can't keep lying to her." she confessed. "I mean, she's my best friend! She's always been there for me, and I've always been there for her. When my dad died, she was the one there for me. She slept over for weeks and cried with me, refusing to go home until I stopped crying and got my butt out of bed."

"We'll tell her." Lucas reassured her. Of course, he always said that but they never did. Peyton eyed him, her eyes saying exactly that. "We will. We've just... got to find the right time to do it."

* * *

Walking into the sports area of Duke's campus, she headed towards the Coach's office, knowing that's where her dad usually was. Discussing sports and whatnot. Things that Haley knew nothing about, and was quite damn proud of that factor. She was no sports fan. She definitely wasn't dedicated to the Charlotte Bobcats, but she always went, mainly to support her father and his job that kept them well fed and warm during the winter. Heading down the hallway, she got closer to the office before finding herself tuning out and soon bumping into someone. "I'm so sorry." she spoke up, repeating those words over and over before meeting the gaze of the guy she had seen earlier.

"It's okay, really." he reassured her for the fifth time with a small smile and a nod of his head.

"You're Nathan Lee, right?" she questioned as he nodded his head. Haley took note at the questioning expression on his face, and knew he was wondering how she knew his name. "Oh, uhm, I was at practice this morning. Waiting on Lucas."

"Ahh, the 'star' of the team." Nathan added sarcastically.

"Hey! He's not that bad." the blonde defended Lucas, but knew when it came to basketball he was. Too many girls giving him a big ego trip while throwing themselves all over him. And lets not even start on the publicity.

"What's all this racket out here? Lee, I thought I told you to-" Coach "Whitey" Durham announced his presence, loud and clear, as he came out of his office to figure out what had gone on. "Oh, Haley. It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too Coach." the blonde said with the same welcoming smile plastered on her lips as she soon noticed her father wasn't around.

"You just missed him - your father. He had to get back to his office, I believe." the elderly man quoted.

"Oh, okay. Thanks Coach. It was nice meeting you 'Lee'. I guess I'll see you at the game tomorrow night." she said simply before turning around and heading towards the parking lot to go home.

"Who's her father?" Nathan turned his attention to his new Coach.

"Coach James. You know him, he's the guy you want to get to notice you. Coach of the Bobcats. If I were you, I'd stay on that girl's good side. Although, it's kind of hard not to. Sweet girl." he said, before disappearing back into his office, leaving Nathan to stare at the path Haley had just used to walk away.


	3. Makes Me Wonder

**Story Title: **The Best Years  
**Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled)  
It's game night, and all stakes are on the table. When Nathan makes the winning shot, things shift and Lucas gets jealous over Haley's interaction with Nathan.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Makes Me Wonder  
**

It was game night. And it was definitely an important one too. If they won, they would go on to the NCAAs, and if they lost, their season would be over. Lets just say, if they lost, Haley was going to be in hell for the next two months whenever she was around Lucas. The girl scrunched her face at the thought, already praying that the team won and everyone did what they were supposed to do. She didn't need to hear Lucas complaining for the next two months. Nor did she want it.

In her cheerleading outfit, Haley scooted her way over to her best friend and joined her on the ground doing their stretches as the rest of the squad soon gathered to their side of the stadium. "You better hope on everything that's holy that we win." Haley told Peyton, allowing the rest of the squad to hear as well. Rachel finally joined them from the change rooms as the group stood up and positioned themselves for the team to come out and warm up.

Cheering as the Duke University's Blue Devils ran out onto the floor, Haley winked back at Lucas, little did she know Peyton was doing the same. Haley then smiled a small smile to Nathan who came out a little bit afterwards. After the few practices she had watched the past few mornings since bumping into him in the hallway, Haley had taken notice to his skill. Growing up around basketball, she knew what talent looked like; and he had it. Which made her wonder why he had just transferred, and hadn't been scouted for DU before.

Shaking the thought off as the game buzzer sounded, she focussed on cheering their school's team on, and making sure that they had some kind of motivation - if the team died down when they were losing, to win. Usually, the team didn't lose, and usually the stadium was crowded with supporters and fans that cheered the whole team on.

It wasn't until the game was tied and there were five seconds left that nails began to get bitten, and legs were shaking on the bleachers and the cheerleaders held hands, praying that whatever happened would be alright for their team. Haley raised her hands to cup her mouth as it hung open, frozen.

"With Duke's star player, number three, Lucas Scott, blocked Tim Smith with the ball; passes to new player number twenty-three. He's open, he jumps..." The stadium was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and everyone stood up in anticipation as the ball flew up towards the hoop as it made a 'swoosh' sound and as if it were some kind of tune starter, the crowd cheered.

Haley, Peyton and the rest of the cheerleaders jumped and cheered along with the crowd as one blonde found her way towards Lucas to celebrate with him. Although Lucas was quite frustrated with Tim, he decided to push that aside and take it out on him later at the party and at another day's practice as he felt his girlfriend's arms around his neck as he lifted her up with a small smile. Glancing up, he saw Peyton and frowned softly. What was he going to do about this? Ignoring the thought, Lucas simply put Haley down after spinning her around somewhat - the best he could through the crowd - and smiled down at her.

"Mr. Hotshot has no reason to complain, so I better not see it." Haley warned him, knowing Lucas, and knowing that he didn't get the winning shot which usually meant he would either be pissed, or he'd be down on himself. It was something that he had learned from his father. Haley knew that. Dan Scott was no 'proud' father unless you were the number one player with every camera on you and you had the highest points in the league.

Lucas simply shook his head, "Of course not." he said as he saw his mother, Karen Roe move her way through the crowd to congratulate her son.

"I'm so proud of you!" Karen exclaimed, hugging her son with a smile before hugging Haley also.

"Where's Dad?" Lucas asked curiously.

Karen frowned, and Lucas knew what that meant, Haley knew what that meant. Heck, the whole stadium probably knew what that meant. "He couldn't make it. He promised he'd watch the highlights though." she tried to cheer her son up, but also made a mental note to yell at her husband. Why she ever married that man was beyond her. He couldn't even make it to one of his son's last college basketball games. "But, you have fun at the party tonight. And don't drink and drive, because I want you home in one piece." she decided simply with a small smile adding to the effect.

Lucas simply nodded his head. "I'll see you later, Mom." he said before hugging his mom once more and then wrapping an arm around Haley before congratulating the rest of the team. All except one. Care to take a guess? Yes, Nathan Lee.

As the rest of the team went to change, Haley stood in the middle of the floor, crossing her arms across her chest. She was still stuck in her cheerleading outfit, and she told Peyton to meet her at her house so she could help her dad set up for the party if she didn't get a chance to get home before everyone started piling into her house. It was a ritual, after any Friday night game, the team and many others were invited to the James mansion for some fun. Her dad would help set up and then leave, making sure that all breakable valuables would be locked up.

She zipped up her long sleeved sweater that went along with her cheerleading uniform. Kicking the floor softly, she glanced up hearing someone walking up to her. "I guess you're not going to be known as the New Kid on the team for any longer, huh?" she asked with a small smirk.

"Guess not." he spoke up with a shrug of his shoulders as though it were nothing. Although, it definitely was. Especially to him. He had to get noticed within a small amount of time, which meant bringing his game. And it also meant sometimes out-shining the King of the team, Lucas Scott. He didn't have the money to support himself going out for the NBA by himself, and if he didn't make it his first time it meant that he had to take a job. Most likely at his mother's diner or something that he could care less about. Of course, his mother's diner had managed to keep a roof over their heads and keep them fed nicely, but Nathan had no intentions on being a waiter for the rest of his life. Who really did?

"Well, look. There's this kind of ritual that's been going on ever since high school for those who knew each other back then. After each Friday game there's a party at my house, the whole team's going to be there." she offered as she noticed him not being too interested, "There's going to be some hot cheerleaders." she cocked an eyebrow with a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Well, if there's cheerleaders." Nathan joked. Little did she know that he'd much rather have a talk with her than some of those cheerleaders who just wanted to get laid. There was nothing wrong with that, don't get him wrong - but they wouldn't get him noticed. Maybe if he made a friendship with this girl he could get introduced to Coach James.

"Great. People usually just come whenever, so just show up at whatever time." Haley responded, as she smiled.

"Speaking to the enemy, Hales?" a voice broke the short silence, and the look they were also sharing as Haley turned around to see Lucas.

"So that's how you guys play this game huh? You think the enemy is your own teammate? Now I know why you guys can't pass the ball." Haley joked as Lucas pulled Haley closer to him, as if to tell Nathan to back off and she was his. Haley didn't object though, it was Lucas being his usual jealous self. She was used to it. Boy, was she ever used to it. "I was just telling Nathan about the party at my house."

"Oh yeah? Did you tell him that you have to be willing to have fun to show up?" Lucas chuckled somewhat at his own joke before walking off.

"Sorry about him, he's... well, yeah."

"Haley, you coming!?" Lucas called out, throwing his hands up as if he were frustrated with the girl.

"Yeah-" the blonde started to head towards her boyfriend, "I'll see you later then."


	4. Huddle Formation

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled)  
It's the after game party at the James residence. Lucas and Haley clash as Peyton doesn't fall into Lucas' trap while Nathan looks on. Lucas threatens Nathan, and Nathan approaches Peyton.

**Author's Note:** I'd like to thank everyone of you that's reviewed. You guys are what motivate me to update more! A special shout out to _Numbly Breaking_ for helping me with the basketball information stuff.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Huddle Formation  
**

"Why do you talk to that freak?" Lucas asked his girlfriend, finally breaking the silence in the sports car from his father's dealership.

"He's not a freak, Luke. And I was just inviting him to the party. The one _for _the _team_." Haley said simply as she rolled her eyes and leaned her head in the palm of her hands as her elbow managed to hit the door of the car. The blonde watched as houses raced by as they entered Haley's neighborhood.

"Whatever." he responded as he drove up the hill into the community and into the driveway, seeing some people already arriving as he hopped out of the car, without saying a word to Haley before walking over to the other side of the car. Haley had unbuckled her seat belt and was getting ready to open the door before it was opened for her. "Thank you." she told Lucas as she headed towards her house and soon felt Lucas' hand find her own.

The couple fought, they clashed. Mostly about basketball, or people they chose to hang out with. Their choices of what to do. They weren't all that different, and Haley saw the good Lucas much of the time they were together, but there was always that scary part of him when he got angry or pissed about something - especially when he got drunk. Then there was just the jackass side of him that Haley couldn't stand. Especially when he judged those that he didn't know, and wouldn't give them a chance. That was the way that the two were different.

The girl decided to let his last outburst slide, much like she had done many times before for different circumstances as she let him catch up so they were walking beside each other and more closely. "I'm going to go change." she told him simply as she pushed the large brown doors open and headed into the front entrance and towards the stairs. Lucas and Haley had been together, long enough to know that Haley wasn't one to give herself away to just anyone. She was saving herself, her virginity that is, until marriage. Which agitated Lucas sometimes, but he respected it. And in his world, respect was finding someone on the side; Peyton Sawyer. It sounded wrong, and very horrible, but in Lucas' point of view, it was inevitable.

Lucas found his way into the kitchen, grabbing a drink from the sink that had been filled with ice and a few beers thrown into it. It was a perfect cooler if you thought about it. No need to empty it, it drained itself. No work. That's what Lucas liked. Meeting up with some teammates, he ignored Tim; the 'dim' one, for reasons stated before and greeted some others. Using the usual man handshake/hug he took a swig from his bottle of beer as he continued making his way through the crowd that seemed to be getting bigger as minutes flew by.

"Hey." he made his presence known outside on the front porch where Peyton had found a peaceful spot to situate.

"Hey." Peyton replied, getting snapped out of her own world and back into reality. The reality one being way more complicated. "Where's Haley?" she questioned curiously as Lucas shrugged his shoulders and leaned his back against the railing. "Shouldn't you know, though? She's your girlfriend." she reminded him.

"I know, Peyton. You think I don't?" Lucas retorted, annoyance presence in his voice as he sat down beside her and glanced around before kissing her rough and hard. It was obvious he wanted something to do, something more than just drinking and hanging with some drunken teenagers; even if he would soon be one of them.

"Lucas." Peyton pushed him away and looked at him. She knew he was usually like that after something had happened; losing a game, or even not making a winning shot. But, this time, Peyton wasn't going to be the secondary prize. She wanted more than that. She was sick of being categorized as the girl that couldn't stick with a date. Truth was, whenever she did try to date; Jake Jagielski for instance, someone she had actually liked, Lucas got jealous and ruined it for her. Not that Haley would ever notice, she had no idea. Which was also something that killed Peyton.

"Come on, Peyton! We're supposed to be celebrating!" Lucas argued, as Peyton got up.

"Go celebrate with your _girlfriend_." Peyton said simply before finding her way back into the house, and the crowd of people that occupied it. Lucas rolled his eyes, moody P.Sawyer. As he looked back straight ahead of him he saw Nathan getting out of his car, and he knew that he had seen it all. Getting up, the boy made his way towards the dark haired boy that was now walking up the front steps towards the door.

"You say a word, and I swear you won't get close to even playing another game." he promised him harshly, making sure to make the correct eye contact with him to tell him he was, in no way, kidding. And then, just like that, he was gone back into the house, leaving Nathan to stand there a little frustrated, and dumbfounded at the same time. What was he going to do? Break his leg? Ha! Like he could... well... he probably would if he was motivated enough...

"Planning on spending the whole night on my porch?" a girl's voice asked, after appearing a few minutes after her own boyfriend stormed off. Haley had managed to change into a jean skirt that she was pretty sure was Peyton's, and a tank top.

Nathan looked up, breaking out of the thoughts of how Lucas could manage to break his leg, and ruin his basketball career. "Well, I do have to admit it sounds safer than going in there." he joked, adding a small short lived laugh.

Haley laughed and shook her head, "Come on. We'll get a few drinks in you and you'll be just like everyone else in here." she joked slightly. Though, it depended on the 'few drinks', she didn't know how many it took to get him tipsy and like the rest that downed a drink every few minutes. They better not be planning on driving afterwards, in fact; Haley wouldn't allow it. Which was why she and Peyton (with a little help from Peyton's mother) came up with the idea to take their keys before and then hide them until they found either of the two girls and then they'd determine whether they'd be taking a cab home or not.

* * *

"Hey girlie." Haley said with a red beer cup in her hand, but it was mostly soda rather than beer. She wasn't one that got drunk. For one, she wasn't a very good drunk and couldn't hold her liquor well, and for two; beer just wasn't very tasty. At least not to her. The blonde laughed as she fell backwards onto the couch beside her best friend, knocking a guy off of one end who was trying to balance on the arm of it. 

"Way to go there, Hales. You sure your big ass butt can fit?" Peyton joked, and in return received a punch in the arm. The girl reached up and clutched her shoulder, as though it hurt.

"I don't know why I stay friends with you, Sawyer." Haley joked.

"Actually, I've been thinking the same thing, only _I _don't understand why _I'm _still friends with _you_. You're ruining my reputation, _Haley-Bop_." she laughed softly, using Haley's dad's nickname for her.

"I'm ruining your reputation!? If you mean, making you more cool, by 'ruining' then yes. I guess you just like to hang out with me because of my wit and good looks." she decided simply, nudging the side of the girl beside her. Peyton laughed and shook her head, bringing her cup of beer to her lips and taking a swig quickly as a 'bang' sounded from the other room and the two girls looked at each other.

"I thought my dad got rid of any valuables." Haley said quickly before getting up. There were a lot of things that she loved in that room, mainly things that her mother left behind. Rushing to the room, she paused for a moment, making her way through the crowd that had gathered around the broken object, and guy who was responsible for it. "Move!" Haley exclaimed sternly, bending down to pick up the glass trying to identify what the object was.

A breath of air caught in her throat, as the gasp stopped halfway and she picked up the music box. Opening it up, she noticed the ballerina that her mother had tried so hard to change into a singer, by adding a little microphone beside it for when it spun had broken into pieces. The pieces of glass added to the count as she noticed that there was also a vase that had fallen from a shelf. Closing her eyes tightly, she refused to allow tears to fall, especially in front of all these people. Things that brought up her mother never did any good with Haley. She wasn't the strongest girl when it came to losing someone.

"Okay, everyone move to the other room!" Peyton called out, noticing her friend clutching the picture inside of the music box that luckily hadn't been wrecked. She eyed Lucas who was busy talking to his buddies and scoffed slightly. What a great boyfriend he was. The girl moved towards her best friend and let one hand quickly rest on her back as she took Haley's hand and helped her up. Telling Haley to sit down, Peyton picked up some large pieces of glass before walking towards the kitchen to get a dustpan and a garbage bag. But, didn't pass up the chance to hit Lucas on the back of the head; sending Tim into a laughing fit before getting the same thing from Lucas.

Lucas looked behind him, seeing Haley sitting on the couch. He knew it had to do with her mother, he was there when everything happened. But, he wasn't always there like he was supposed to be, being a shoulder to lean on. He was too busy practicing, or chatting with his buddies. And as much as he knew it was wrong, he still did it. Deciding to head over to the couch since he didn't want a repeat of what had just went on, his head was already starting to have some pain shooting through it from the impact site. "Hey." he said softly as he sat down beside his girlfriend and wrapped a comforting arm around her.

Everybody knew the story of Lydia James. When she left town, she left a heartbroken family, and never really had a reason to leave. The way everyone saw it, the James had a perfect life. A gorgeous house, beautiful vacations, no need to worry about money. But, something shifted in the family's life, something Lydia didn't enjoy. Leaving a note promising her daughter that she'd be back, she packed her bags, got into a car and drove off. And no one had ever seen her since. Haley's father would never show how he truly felt, and the first thing Haley showed was anger. Her mother was supposed to be the one to turn to when you needed boy advice, or when you needed someone to talk to. Like girl talk. When Peyton wasn't around, Haley would always go to her mother. They were close, until she was fourteen and landed Lucas as a boyfriend and started hanging out with the 'popular' group of people. And then three months into the school year, she left.

* * *

It was a few hours after the breaking of glass, and a few tears had been shed before Lucas managed to get Haley's spirits up again and some people had been passed out for a few minutes as Haley made her way through the crowded room, holding her cup up high making sure not to spill it. Finding her boyfriend, she cut her way into the circle of him and his teammates as she felt his arm around her and his hand find her waist and the girl whispered something in his ear. Then, in just a few moments, the two were seperated from the group and Haley gave Lucas a kiss, "Thank you." she added shortly after, but Lucas wasn't really listening. He hadn't made out with someone as of that night, and lets just say the guy didn't like it. 

Lucas quickly crashed his own lips against hers as the two made their way upstairs. It was a usual occurance, but it would never lead to no clothes in Haley's bed. Lucas knew that, which also meant he knew how to stop himself with Haley; he had to, or else it may just lead to a slap on the face. He respected her for sticking to her guns and not having sex before marriage. It was hard, Lucas knew he fell into the pressure - especially being the star of the basketball team, and his first time being with none other than Brooke Davis. The girl that almost ruined his relationship with Haley, and now there was Peyton.

Peyton crossed her arms and frowned, watching the couple make their way up the stairs, every now and then stopping on a step and letting their lips caress each others before continuing. "If you stare too much, people might think you're jealous." a voice stated and Peyton shot her head around quickly, finding Nathan.

"If you sneak up on people, they might think you're a stalker." the girl retorted, her voice not polite at all.

"Aren't you supposed to be her best friend, or something?" he questioned as Peyton cocked an eyebrow at the guy.

"Aren't you supposed to be minding your own business. You're not making a very good start around here." Peyton said harshly before walking away from the dark haired kid, eyeing him one last time before getting cut off by a group of people walking by.


	5. Every Night Is Another Story

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled)  
Haley chats with Anna Sawyer as Peyton comes home shortly after. Nathan lies about his past to Haley, and Lucas finds himself at Haley's after getting hurt by his father.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Every Night Is Another Story**

Haley let herself into the Sawyer household. There was a week left until the NCAA tournament would begin, and the blonde hadn't had a lot of time to spend with Lucas while he trained and trained with his father and the team. It seemed like that was all he did. Figures, though. Haley knew the drill. "Hello!?" she called out, closing the door behind her and letting her bag fall to the table near the staircase before entering the kitchen and looking around. "Mrs. S?" she called out once more, crossing her arms across her chest. "P.Sawyer!?" she added shortly after, shrugging her shoulders and grabbing a muffin from the counter. They weren't that hot so she assumed they had been on the cooling rack for quite some time.

"Good morning, Miss James." she heard the bright, cheery voice pop up from behind her. Haley knew it was Peyton's mother. Nobody was as cheery as she usually was. Turning around, the girl tried to look as innocent as possible after just eating one of the muffins quickly. "I see you helped yourself." she looked at Haley as though she was disappointed in the girl.

"It's not my fault that you make them so delicious." Haley decided with a shrug of her shoulders as she smiled softly and sat down on one of the bar stools. Anna Sawyer simply laughed and scrubbed the counter once more.

"Peyton's just gone out to grab me some more flour so I can make more of those _delicious _muffins." she told her daughter's friend. Anna and Haley went very far back, back to when Peyton and Haley were three and the two girls bumped into each other at a shopping market. Their mothers made friends then, and it just was inevitable that the two would always be around each other. They had to make friends or enjoy a horrible experience everytime their parents spent time together. Anna and Lydia were much like Peyton and Haley. They were as tight as... well a Girl Guide's knot? And they were certainly inseperable. When Peyton's father died of cancer, that's when Haley and her mother spent the most time at the Sawyer household. Lydia would cook the meals, while Haley would try and cheer them up, make sure they were comfortable and had everything they needed.

They always had each other, and it was a role reversal when Haley's mother left town. Things definitely shifted, but the fact that Haley always had Peyton's mother to go to was kind of comforting. Anna Sawyer knew Lydia James as well as anybody, maybe even better than Haley knew her own mom, and it made things easier. The Sawyer house was always welcoming, especially through Haley's eyes.

Haley finally nodded in response to the woman's statement, "So, how have you been Hales?"

"I've been good." she nodded her head, "_Hungry._ But good." she smirked as she placed her hands on the counter and looked at Anna pleadingly. The other blonde, the elder woman, sighed and shook her head with the same uppety laugh that was always very comforting. It was also one of those one-of-a-kind laughs, where if you heard it you knew exactly who it belonged to. The blonde bounced in her stool, proud of her accomplishment as she reached for one of the muffins. "Did I ever tell you you're my favorite of the Sawyers?" she joked. "I'm only friends with P.Sawyer to get to you."

"More like to get to my cooking." the two girls laughed.

"Hey! I totally heard that." Peyton acted offended as she flung the flour onto the counter as though she was angry at the two of them.

"Sorry sweetie, but Haley and I are like this." Anna joked as she tried to cross her fingers to show that they were 'tight'.

* * *

Lucas dribbled the ball along the court as he did a lay up and watched the ball 'swish' through the hoop with a smirk, catching the ball as it was passed back to him by one of his teammates. The whistle was blown, and the team rushed towards their Coaches. "Okay, we've got some time for one more small game. So, I want..." the head coach looked around, "Scott and Smith; captains." 

To say they were surprised, wasn't even something that came to mind. Of course Lucas was a captain. "Jagielski." he chose first, as Tim chose another. Soon, there were two teammates left, and Tim was at his last choice. Looks like they had an odd number on their team, and is it any surprise that Nathan and some second string kid was left? "Hastings." Tim picked as Lucas smirked and shot a glance to Nathan before turning around, getting ready to play. The coaches had left, leaving the team to play on their own like they usually did. They had their own work to do themselves, like come up with some new plays that they could try out before the tournament.

"Hey!" Nathan called out, throwing his arms up in the air, scrunching his face in frustration. Was Lucas their leader or something? As no one turned back, or even tried to get Nathan in on the game, he shook his head before grabbing his bag and heading out of the gym in a huff. "Unbelievable." he muttered to himself before bumping into Haley James again.

"Woah. Geez, you alright there?" Haley asked, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder after gaining her balance once more. This was the second time the couple had bumped into each other, if somebody was trying to tell them something they weren't doing a good job seeing as how neither of them noticed each other. Well, that was a lie. Haley had noticed Nathan, and Nathan sure noticed Haley; noticing each other in seperate, different ways might I add.

"Yeah. Fine." he muttered simply.

"You know, I'm pretty good at being able to tell when a person's lying."

"Is he always like that?" blurted Nathan.

"Who?"

"Your _boyfriend_."

"Oh. Well, not always. It just depends what you do to piss him off. Under normal circumstances he's a great guy."

_"Yeah, a great guy who cheats on his girlfriend with her best friend. If that's how you define a 'great guy' around here." _thought Nathan as he shook his head. Was Lucas trying to tell him something? Like he wasn't kidding when he threatened that he wouldn't be able to play anymore basketball if he told Haley about what he saw. "Well, I didn't do anything."

"You sure about that?" she cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"Yeah. Unless playing well is something wrong in his books." Haley shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't ask me about the minds of sport players." Haley responded simply. "Look, Lucas... well he's very competitive. And, if anybody gets in his way, he'll beat them out of it. It's just who he is. If you met his father, you'd understand why. He's lived his whole life in the shadow of Dan Scott. You probably know him, heard of him at least." Nathan nodded. "He's not exactly the best role model to live up to. He's been pushing Lucas to be the _best_, no matter the cost, since he was like ten. And that's what he's been doing. He's a good person... underneath everything that he does that makes him such a..." she pursed her lips together, "...Jerk."

"I personally don't see it, but whatever you say." Nathan decided simply as Haley laughed softly and shook her head in defeat.

"So, what made you transfer to Duke?" she questioned, finally getting a chance to figure out what the kid was all about.

"I've always wanted to go to Duke. I've been playing basketball since... well as long as I can remember and Duke is just the school to help me get into the NBA." Nathan told her honestly.

"Then how come you transfer now?"

"Well..." Nathan thought about it. He wondered if he could tell the girl the truth. If he told her that he was actually financially troubled she'd still talk to him... he knew that her boyfriend certainly wouldn't want anything more to do with him... not that he did in the first place. "...My dad went to Duke, and after not getting in because my grades aren't exactly perfect, he had to pull some strings. But, he was always so busy with his work and stuff to work on it. But I played basketball and did online college courses while travelling with my mom."

Haley's eyes widened as she gasped a little, obviously in pure jealousy of the guy. "Where'd you visit? I've never actually been out of the country, but I've always wanted to go to Paris, and Italy." she told him honestly. Nathan forced an awkward smile, realizing what he was getting himself into. He would definitely have to bring his game up a notch if he expected to fool these people. His history wasn't exactly the best story to tell, and while he had lived in a small shack-like house for two years when he was twelve, that wasn't something he wanted to brag about. It was a real experience, but not something he'd repeat or anything. Nathan's family wasn't the richest, and he certainly wasn't the smartest either. Without basketball, he wouldn't go anywhere, he knew that just as well as his teachers did back at high school.

So, why lie about everything, you may ask. Honestly, he had no idea. Nathan just wanted to make a good impression. He didn't want to seem desperate, and he wanted to remain friends with this girl. He didn't know much about her, except that she had a nice house and her father was the Coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. And lets not forget that that man was his ticket into living his dream. He felt he had to lie, to fit in with these people. He hadn't met many around the basketball teams, and the people he had spoken to recently that were on full scholarships, and that was the only reason they could afford to go to a school like Duke. He hadn't met many in that group that couldn't afford designer clothes, and had to live off of microwavable food when his mother's Cafe wasn't doing so good and she couldn't get any other job.

* * *

Haley sat on the ground in her family room, her back against the couch as she hitched her knees up and rested her notebook on her lap as the television played music videos of different songs. Her father never understood how she could do homework in front of the television, but it was just easier for Haley; in an odd way. She couldn't really explain it. Finals were coming up, and the blonde had to study. She was writing down a few notes just as the door bell chimed throughout the house. After realizing that their maid was off on vacation, she hopped up quickly and skipped up the steps towards the front entrance and pulled open the front door, seeing Lucas, who looked out of breath. 

"What happened?" the blonde asked concerned. Lucas was in shape, Haley knew that and she didn't think he'd be the one that could be out of breath... and since when did he run to her house? She hadn't noticed a car in the driveway, well one that wasn't hers. Her father was out to some business dinner for the night.

"Do you mind if I stay here for the night?" Lucas questioned as Haley watched Lucas walk into the house, a concerned look on her face that was quite obvious as Haley shut the door behind him.

"Do you want some water? Something to drink?" Lucas shook his head as the two headed towards the family room. Lucas had gotten into a long game of one-on-one with his father, and had won. Usually, it was a good thing, but this time it went too far. His father seemed to have been drinking, or just got really frustrated and accused Lucas of cheating, and then said he wasn't trying and he had let his own son win. As Lucas joked around and agreed with him; obviously not actually believing him, and his father knew that. He could tell by his expression in his voice. And the two played one more round, as Dan got rough and shoved Lucas to the ground. There was yelling, and Lucas had managed to cut himself on the pavement.

His mother cleaned him up and as soon as the fighting started, Lucas climbed out his window; something he was extremely well at, and headed towards Peyton's house. At first, Peyton was his first thought, which might have sounded wrong to anyone but him and Peyton, but to his surprise she wasn't home. He tried one more time before remembering something about an art gala thing and made his way to Haley's.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank you all for your reviews. I love to hear what you guys think of the story so far. And Haley's mother just _might_ make an appearance later on. wink 


	6. Where Does The Good Go?

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG-13  
**Chapter Summary:** (You know the drill)  
Haley finds her dad coming in late, and soon finds out why. Lucas celebrates (finally) with Peyton while Haley invites Nathan to her beach house for the NC-double-A tournament.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Where Does The Good Go?  
**

Haley woke up in the middle of the night, feeling an arm wrapped around her body as she turned on her side and saw Lucas. It was obvious that her father was not home yet, or she would have been woken up to the sound of Jimmy James kicking Lucas out of the house. Looking around, she sat up carefully and crept out of bed, making sure that she didn't wake Lucas. Biting down on her bottom lip, she slowly made her way out of her bedroom, avoiding the small spots in her floor that usually made a creaking noise.

Slipping out of the room, she darted down the stairs for a glass of water, and an excuse to see if her dad just hadn't come to check up on her yet. Usually, her father got home from his business dinners and snuck a peek at her to see if she was asleep, if she wasn't they'd say goodnight and that'd be that. But, he never stayed out _this_ late. At least, not to Haley's knowledge.

She scrunched her nose up in the cute, infamous Haley James way after not seeing her father. Shrugging her shoulders, she tried to wipe away the worried streak that hit her as she grabbed a glass from the cupboard and got herself some water. The blonde was about to head back up the stairs before seeing a light get shot through the windows of the front doors. Turning around, she walked over and saw her father getting out of the car.

The girl jumped up the stairs, skipping every second one, and darted to her room. Nudging the sleeping figure in her bed, she was now quite awake and determined not to get Lucas in anymore trouble than he had already gotten into before. "My dad's home." she told Lucas simply after he had sluggishly opened his eyes.

Mumbling something that was barely audible, and probably not even English, Lucas turned over on his side and pulled the comforter up more to cover his face from anymore interruptions. "If you get your butt out of this bed now, I'll make it worth your while." she promised him, hearing the front door open and close. The boy opened his eyes as his eyebrow shot up.

"Patience is a virtue." he mumbled simply, getting up and deciding that trying to get out of her window wasn't the best idea, so instead he hid in her closet, shutting the door completely behind him and turning off the light to the walk-in closet, just as another door was opened.

"Haley-Bop? You awake?" Mr. James whispered softly, peeking his head into his daughter's room, seeing her lying down.

"Dad?" she acted, sitting up slowly. "Where were you?"

"It's not important. Just go back to sleep. Good night." he smiled, waving a small wave before closing the door once again.

As a few silent moments passed, there was a knock coming from inside of the closet. "You can come out now." Haley whispered as Lucas dispersed from the closet.

The boy fell down on the bed, moving an arm to the other side of the girl beside him and smirked softly. "So, about you making it worth my while." he started.

"I thought you were tired." Haley said, quirking an eyebrow at the boy before shaking her head, laughing quietly.

"I'm a guy, Hales. We're never too tired for that." Lucas joked softly, even though it was true in his case as the boy leaned in and caressed his girlfriend's lips with his own.

"You little perv." she joked as Haley was pulled closer to Lucas and their lips played together once more. Lucas positioned himself on top of the girl, but made sure that he didn't crush the girl as he held himself up with his arms pinned on either side. Haley flung her arms around Lucas' neck and pulled him down closer so she didn't have to feel so uncomfortable stretching her neck to lock their lips.

* * *

"So, the first game's out of town, right?" Peyton questioned as she joined Haley and Lucas on the grass in the campus of the University. Lucas was leaned up casually against the tree trunk as Haley in the middle of his lap. 

"Yeah, my dad says that we should all just stay overnight at the beach house and then we can just drive the next morning for the game." Haley informed the two others. Her dad had bought a beach house in California for the NCAAs, and she remembered going there ever since she was thirteen.

"Awesome. Sounds like fun." the curly blonde nodded, "So, who else is going to stay with us this year?"

"Well, there's you, Luke, me - of course. My dad, for the time that he's there. Usually he's too busy to hang with us." she joked, "I was thinking maybe we could invite the new kid, Nathan."

Lucas looked at Haley as though she was crazy, although only Peyton could see the look on his face. Once again, there was that jealous streak. Peyton frowned softly, before nodding her head.

"Tim." Lucas added.

"Fine. As long as the kid doesn't eat all my plastic fruit like he did last time." Haley said simply as Peyton laughed and she rolled her eyes.

"That's why he's '_Dim_'." Peyton retorted.

Haley noticed Nathan as he shot a wave after connecting their glances. "I guess I'll go invite him now then. See you two later." she smiled, kissing Lucas quickly and then patting Peyton on the back of her shoulder after heading towards Nathan.

Lucas watched Haley carefully, and didn't take his eyes off of her and Nathan as the two had their conversation. "What is it with him anyway? It's like he swoops in and all of a sudden expects to be welcome everywhere he goes." he spat out.

"What's with him? What's with you?" Peyton returned.

"What are you talking about? Are you PMS'ing again?" Lucas questioned with a roll of his eyes, obviously not understanding what Peyton had to be so pissed about.

"Please. Lucas, you've got to make up your mind. Stop being such an idiotic jealous boyfriend. If you haven't noticed, if Haley's doing anything with Nathan, it won't be worse than what we've already done." the curly blonde stated before getting up and heading towards her next class.

"So we're all just driving down there in a few days and staying the night at my beach house." she told him, "It beats sleeping in a hotel room, right?" Personally, Haley never enjoyed hotel rooms that much, and her father didn't like her staying in a five star hotel so normally she'd be stuck in some ugly looking room with the most uncomfortable bed you would have ever slept on in your life. It made you ache in places you didn't even know could ache.

"I guess more money to spend on useless things, then huh?" Nathan joked. Although, he had to beg his mother to send him extra allowance to make sure he could even stay in a hotel for a few nights. He usually had to work for extra money.

Haley laughed and nodded her head, "Yeah, or in my case shopping for clothes." she decided simply.

"Is your dad going to be there?" he questioned, mentally kicking himself right afterwards.

"Why? You've got some kind of crush on him?" she cocked an eyebrow before smirking to show she was only kidding. Nathan, on the other hand tried to act as casually as possible, he didn't want her suspecting he was only hanging around to get her father's attention. "I'm kidding. So, here's my number and just call if you get lost or whatever." she decided simply, handing him a piece of paper with a written number on it.

* * *

Lucas had managed to get up to Peyton's balcony. Her mother had no idea that the two kids even hung out outside of when Haley was around. And they both knew that they'd end up getting a long lecture about it from Anna too. She had a strong moral towards no cheating. Those two words basically explained it all. No matter what - you don't cheat. Especially if it's with your best friend's boyfriend.

"Hey." he made his presence known after falling onto the ground with a 'umph' also falling from his lips.

"What the hell are you doing?" Peyton said, startled a little as she rushed over to help Lucas up. "Didn't you get my message?"

"What message?"

"The message where I told you that my mom was out and you could go through the _front door_ this time." Peyton said with a soft laugh. "You've got to stop thinking your Spiderman."

"Actually, I like to think I'm in one of those Mission Impossible movies. The theme songs go better with climbing up onto someone's balcony." Lucas retorted with a smirk. Peyton laughed and shook her head, giving him a glance over to make sure he hadn't hurt himself in any way. "I'm fine." he said simply, not wanting Peyton to find the mark that was still on the back of his neck and on his hip from the night before.

"Okay, okay." the girl said, raising her hands as if she was surrendering. Lucas smirked the same smirk that usually meant he was up to something as he attacked Peyton's lips with his own and pushed her onto to the bed.

"I guess this means you're perfectly fine." the blonde joked before rolling over and continuing to kiss him while unbuttoning his top. Lucas moved his own arms to lift Peyton's shirt off. It only took a few minutes before they weren't wearing a thing and Lucas finally was able to fully 'celebrate' his win.

* * *

"You ready?" a voice startled the man putting away some books onto his bookshelf in his office. 

"Almost."

"Where are we going tonight, _Coach James_?" she asked, mocking his title after just hearing a player call him that.

"How about the Pretty Lady gets to choose tonight." he suggested with a small smirk as he grabbed his briefcase and walked around his desk, meeting the blonde woman in the middle of the office as the couple shared a short, sweet 'hello' kiss.

Haley chewed on her quivering lip as she gazed through the window, shocked. Well, shocked would be an understatement.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I've changed some things about the NCAAs, so just go along with it for all you basketball fans, please. ;)


	7. Lost and Found

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** 14A  
**Chapter Summary:** Haley confronts her father about his relationship. Lucas receives two celebrations in only one twenty-four hour time period.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Lost & Found  
**

Haley decided to stay up and wait for her dad that night. She wasn't going to be a liar. She wasn't going to pretend like she was alright with this situation. Sure, she was very close with the Sawyers, but that didn't mean it was okay for her father to be dating one! Anna Sawyer was like her second mother, yes, but she would never be her mother. How could her father do that? Just give up. Haley sure hadn't. Deep down, Haley still had that little ounce of hope left that her mother would come home and things would go back to normal again.

Haley and Lydia James. Back together again. The mother-daughter duo. They'd go shopping and Lydia would come up with new creative ways to bail Haley out of school on certain assembly days so they could do something more exciting. On Haley's birthday Lydia would turn their house into some wacky theme party and invite all her friends and allow anything to happen. There weren't birthdays like that anymore, not since she left. They were boring, and most of the time Haley had no enthusiasm to celebrate them.

Hearing the front door open, Haley took a sip of her cup of coffee and let a soft sigh fall from her lips. Memories of her 'perfect' family flooded in and they didn't seem to want to just get the hell out. Out of her head, and out of her life. She hated remembering how things used to be, simply because they used to be perfect; at least to her they were. She had a mother, and a father. Both were loving parents and would do anything for their daughter, what more could one ask for? And more importantly, how could something that perfect make someone leave? Someone that was a key component in the perfect family.

"Dad!?" she called out finally, making it known that she was still awake.

"Oh, Hales, what are you still doing up? Don't you have class tomorrow?" Jimmy questioned, letting himself settle down after getting a little startled at hearing his daughter's voice.

"It's Friday, Dad. Or, actually Saturday now since it's _two _in the morning." she informed him simply. _"What, too drunk to remember what day it is?"_ she thought to herself before shaking it out of her head. Her dad would never drink and drive - at least she hoped he wouldn't.

"Oh, right. Must have slipped my mind. Is Peyton here or something?" he asked, still trying to figure out why she was up at this time.

"No. Where were you?"

"Out with some co-workers. We were discussing some business stuff." he lied.

"Oh, really? So, is Peyton's mom a new employee or something? Or, were you just taking her out for a spin as an interview?" she spat out.

"Do not talk to me like that, young lady." Jimmy stated sternly. "Look, we were going to tell you; both of you. We just wanted to do it at the right time."

"So you'd rather lie than tell the truth?" Haley stood up from the seat, "Good job, Dad! Way to make a good model for your daughter to follow!" she exclaimed. He heard the hurt in her voice, but he also heard the anger and at this moment he was focusing on the anger in her voice rather than the fact that he was the one making her so hurt.

"Haley Liandra James!" the man cried out, making the girl stop in her tracks. "You do not speak like that, especially not to your own father."

"What about mom, dad!? What about her?" Haley screeched.

"What about her, Haley?"

"That's it? You've forgotten all about her, already!? When she comes home, I don't think she's going to enjoy the fact that you're dating Peyton's mother - her best friend... _my _best friend's mom!"

"Haley, you're mom's been gone for two years."

"She promised." Haley allowed one tear to cascade down her porcelain cheeks as she looked at her father.

"It's been two years. Two long and hard years, and honey, it's time to move on."

"You can find _anybody_! You could make a few phone calls, put some money into it and you'd have her back in a _week_!" Haley exclaimed, her voice loud as it cracked through her tears. Jimmy didn't even attempt to stop his daughter, he knew when she got like that there was no stopping her. Venting was a way to get it all out. Everything. Even if it woke the neighbors. But, before he could say a word to break the silence, Haley grabbed her keys and jacket and headed towards the front door.

"Haley, where are you going?" Haley wrapped her hand around the door knob before turning sideways to view her father.

"Out." she said generally, there were no specifics in that one word, which aggravated her father.

"No, you are not! Not unless you tell me where you're going." he demanded.

"I'm being like you, Dad. I'm going out with my co-workers." she spat out before slamming the door shut behind her and driving out of the driveway.

* * *

A curly blonde awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of the front door opening and closing. Nudging the man laying beside her she tried to wake him up. Lucas' eyes fluttered open and noticed this was much like before - deja vu anyone? "You have to leave. My mom's home." she ordered him. 

"Are you going to make it worth my while?" he muttered, not realizing that it was Peyton and not Haley kicking him out this time around. If it weren't for Lucas being tired, and not caring all that much the boy would start to think he was being used and then thrown out.

"What?" Peyton scrunched her forehead together before scrambling up and pulling him off of the bed. "My mom's home, you have to get out or else if she finds you here..." the blonde sighed, pretending to give up. "You know what? Fine... don't go. We'll have some fun sitting through a long lecture about what we're doing wrong and most likely another sex talk with my mother."

"What!?" Lucas sat up. He had received that talk before, from his own mother and that was awkward enough. Getting up, he headed towards the window. "We have got to get some kind of a hotel room." he muttered underneath his breath before hopping out the window.

* * *

Haley drove down the street, she knew she couldn't go to Peyton's house because she'd want to talk about it, and more than likely Anna would be there and well... it would just be awkward. Plus, Peyton would then find out. Then again, maybe Haley should be the one to tell her, it will come out eventually. Maybe sooner rather than later now that she knew herself. 

Turning the corner, she found herself soon parked in the driveway of the Scott household. A sigh fell from her lips, but it wasn't a sad one, it wasn't a disappointed one, it was an angry one. Getting out of her car, she slammed the door closed and stormed up the front steps of the house. Letting herself in, she hadn't noticed anyone's cars in the front driveway except for Lucas' so she assumed he was the only one home. It was three in the morning, and well, she didn't even want to ask where his parents were. Or what her own father was doing.

Hurrying up the stairs, she knocked on Lucas' bedroom door and waited until he opened it and Haley pretty much surprised him with a long passionate kiss. Little did she know he had just gotten home. "Not that I mind this, but what's going on? What are you doing here?"

"I'm ready." Haley stated simply, and if those words weren't enough she kissed him once more as Lucas picked her up and laid her on the bed. With a small smirk that fell to one side of his mouth, he took off his shirt - for the second time that day - and kissed Haley. It wasn't as rough as it was with Peyton, it was sweet and passionate. The fact was, Lucas loved Haley and he always would, but Peyton also was taking pieces of his heart with her every time that they spoke when they were alone.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked. He may be an ass almost 99.999 of the time, but he wasn't willing to have the factor of him pushing her into having sex on his conscience.

Haley nodded, "I want to." she said, her voice quiet. Whether it was being angry with her father that pushed her over the edge, or the fact that there were a lot of pressures pushing her towards having sex, she was still doing it. And at the moment, things seemed to be blurred as Lucas pulled her t-shirt off and started to kiss her neck. Her breath had been caught in her throat for a few moments before a sigh breathed out and Lucas soon found himself taking something he didn't expect to take until their 'arranged' marriage happened. Her virginity.


	8. Private Radio

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating: **PG-13  
**Chapter Summary: **The group heads up to Haley's beach house before the NCAAs.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Private Radio**

It had been a week since Haley had stayed over night with Lucas. A week since she had spoken to her father with more than only two words to say and a week full of cheating and lying. Now, it was time to head to Raleigh, North Carolina. At first, Haley, Lucas and Peyton were supposed to drive together to save gas, but as time went on plans seemed to shift.

Haley had packed her things so she could finish up a paper at the University and then leave right away. Haley packed up her things, before putting her paper through the slot made in the assignment box outside of her Professor's office. Tossing her keys into her right hand, Haley headed out of the English department building and towards where her car was parked -- almost bumping into a familiar face.

"You know, if we keep meeting like this I think I should buy a helmet and some knee pads." she joked.

"Hey." Nathan said, a small laugh following.

"Aren't you supposed to be heading up to Raleigh?" she asked curiously.

"Actually, as it turns out I'm stuck taking the team bus up. Besides, all car pools are full and my car's in the shop." Liar. Well not really, truth was his car was in the shop, but it practically lived in the shop. His Uncle pretty much had to fix it every night. His mother had told him it would cheaper just to go up with the team bus.

"Well, mine isn't. I had to finish off a project so Lucas, Peyton and Tim left without me." she told him honestly. "So, you've got a choice; riding in style or riding in the back of a team bus." she cocked an eyebrow, weighing out his options with her hands.

"Is this where you have a chance to stop in the middle of nowhere and kill me?" he questioned. Nathan didn't quite understand what it was about this girl, but something told him to keep trying to get to know her. And it didn't have to do with the fact that he needed to get the attention of her father. Shouldn't his playing be enough to do that? Well, he couldn't be too sure, and he had too much at risk to leave it to luck.

Haley laughed and shook her head. "No, I would never kill you." she said simply. "I would hate to have that on my conscience." she paused, "Lucas would."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Nathan said sarcastically. He paused for a few moments before weighing his own options and then agreeing to hitching a ride with her.

* * *

"I thought we were driving Tim?" Peyton said curiously as she hopped into Lucas' car. 

"I made some different arrangements for him. Thought me and you could use some alone time." he said with a smirk. Lucas had managed to get Tim to drive up with Jake -- though, he didn't have much of a choice. Tim knew about him and Peyton, it wasn't a planned thing, the guys were ragging on him about how he hadn't gotten in Haley's pants yet and how much he was whipped. He just had to make sure that Tim would still stay on his side, and telling him that would surely guarantee that. At least for the rest of the school year.

"Well, I hope you didn't plan on making any pit stops at some slutty motel or anything." the girl stated sarcastically. Of course, she hadn't planned on sleeping with Lucas for the next few days. At least while they're in Haley's house, and she would most likely be right across the hall. That would be not only creepy, but wrong. As if they could be any more wrong than they already were.

"Well, there's some Flamingo Motel up the road, I was thinking..." he started before getting punched in the arm.

"Dream on." she said simply, "And watch the road." she added shortly after.

* * *

Lucas and Peyton were the first to arrive, having not made that pit stop that Lucas was so keen on having. Grabbing the key from his pocket, he unlocked the front door and decided to grab the bags later. After looking around for a few minutes, he found Peyton and planted a kiss on her lips. "We're all alone." he whispered before kissing her once again. 

Peyton did not object this time and accepted the kisses. Peyton wrapped her arms around Lucas' neck as the kiss got more passionate and soon they welcomed each other's tongues into their mouths.Lucas placed his hand on the back of her head, feeling her soft curly blonde hair through his fingers as the two stumbled towards the closest couch. Peyton didn't hold the laugh in as the two fell onto the couch, Lucas being pulled down by Peyton after falling herself. Holding himself up with one arm on either side of the girl, he dipped his head to connect their lips once more.

* * *

Haley was fiddling around with the radio, her iPOD had been playing for most of the drive, until the battery died and left a very frustrated Haley trying to find a good radio station without the static. For an expensive car, the radio wasn't that great. It most likely had something to do with Haley always switching stations. 

"How about you keep your eyes on the road? I don't want to die in a tragic car accident." Nathan offered, noticing that Haley wasn't exactly the best driver around and the fact that she was focused on finding a good radio station wasn't the best thing. Especially if he wanted to live through the ride.

"Okay, fine. But none of that rap stuff." Haley reminded him. The two had talked about what music they preferred, and the blonde had made her opinion on rap music very clear.

"Yeah, yeah." Nathan said with a soft smirk as he shook his head before switching the station as a woman's voice flowed through the stereo system and filled the car. One of those talk shows where you called in to ask questions and get counselling or whatever. Personally, Nathan didn't see the very big appeal on talking about your personal problems over the radio, but whatever floats your boat. Nathan pressed another button, "Uhm, is there a reason why it's not changing?" he asked aloud, continuing to press the button.

"Oh, not again." Haley sighed, agitated. The blonde tried the station changer herself before throwing her arms in the air in defeat. "And my dad says that my radio's perfectly fine." she exclaimed.

_"We have another caller. Stacy from Durham. Good afternoon Stacy."  
"Wow, I actually got through? Ha. Hello Dr. Gibbs, I would just like to say that I'm a big fan."  
"Why thank you Stacy. What are you calling for?"  
"Well, my husband's been acting not himself lately and I'm afraid that he's having an affair."_

Haley scoffed. Men. Why couldn't they just stick to one girl and be fine with her? "Something wrong?" Nathan asked curiously. There was one reason he could think of as to why Haley would have that reaction. Lucas and Peyton.

"Ugh. It's my dad. I just found out that he's been dating Peyton's mom for like, the past two months. Can you belive that? I mean, first of all he lied to his own daughter, and second of all he's cheating." Haley complained, as Nathan sat in the passenger's seat awkwardly.

"He's still married! Whether she's not around has nothing to do with it. I mean, what if she comes back? Then what's going to happen? What's the point in coming home if he's already replaced her?" she muttered bitterly.

_"This place is certainly going to get interesting when she finds out about Lucas and Peyton." _Nathan thought to himself silently as he listened to the radio, and Haley.

_"Well, he's been really distant lately, and whenever I try to set up something for us to do he's always working late, but when I call him at work they say he's already gone..."_

* * *

**Author's Note: **Please let me know what you guy's think. Read and review! New chapter coming soon. 


	9. Gathering Clouds

**Story Title:** The Best Years  
**Chapter Rating:** PG  
**Chapter Summary:** The gang is up at the beach house. Dinner talk, as Peyton and Haley settle down for the night. Heading off to the game the next morning.

* * *

**The Best Years  
Chapter 9: Gathering Clouds**

"Dinner is served!" Jimmy James called out to the kids that were gathered around in the living room talking and some boys were stuck with their eyes glued to some basketball game. Most of the players that were staying at the beach house he had known since high school, the boys Haley had hung out with since junior high school -- Lucas Scott especially.

Jim knew Dan and Karen Scott very well, and personally enjoyed Karen's company better than Dan's. With Dan being the person he went to with auto troubles, and Karen whenever he needed to fly somewhere. They had been family friends since their own kids were younger. In fact, it was always Haley, Peyton and Lucas. Although there were those few years in junior high when Lucas drifted off from Peyton and Haley when he became the boy toy that he was now, the player as many would prefer to call him.

Haley laughed as she entered the dining room with Peyton. There was a large table in the middle of the room, perfectly set with all the necessetties needed and the food filled the aroma of the room. Finding her seat, she sat down at the other end of the table -- as far away from her father as she could get. The two still hadn't shared large conversations, and Jimmy and Anna had planned on sitting their two children down for a long talk when they got back.

"It smells delicious, Mr. James." a deep voice announced as he found an open seat beside Jake.

"Kiss ass." Tim muttered as Lucas joined in the laughter before receiving a punch in the shoulder by Haley.

"Geez. What's with girls and punching me today?" Lucas muttered softly, more to himself than to the others around the table.

Haley shook her head, still not knowing about Peyton and Lucas and their drive up to the beach house alone. It hadn't been brought up, and Peyton mentally thanked everyone that could have possibly been involved in letting that happen. "Should we say grace?" Jim questioned the kids around the table as Tim raised his hand eagerly.

"Can I please say it this year Coach Jay!?" Haley's father sighed and nodded his head, hoping that it wouldn't be as bad as it had been a few years ago when they had let him say it. Clearing his throat, Tim entangled his hands and brought them up to his chin. "Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub. Amen."

The group chuckeled before digging into their food as they discussed the game the next day and the three girls, Peyton, Haley and Rachel discussed new cheers.

* * *

"I don't get it, why aren't you talking to your dad again?" Peyton asked after finishing brushing her teeth. Haley and Peyton were sharing their usual room. Every summer, and well any kind of break they could get they'd come up to the beach house and stay for a few days; sometimes weeks. If you looked around the room, you'd notice a mix of Peyton and Haley and that was the exact reason. The room was theirs. And no one would dare change that. 

"Because... it's just complicated." Haley said with a sigh. As much as she wanted to tell Peyton, she knew that she'd feel betrayed; maybe more than Haley did. Peyton had been through a lot, and something told her she didn't exactly want her mother dating right about now. Especially if it meant she'd be dating Haley's father. It was just... so wrong. At least, to her it was. Plus, Haley would make sure that it didn't go any further than it already was. There would be no 'falling in love' because lets face it, her mother _was_ going to come home. Whether her father wanted to fess up to that or not, she was. And there would always be a place for her, unless of course Coach Jimmy James felt like losing a daughter too.

Peyton hopped onto the bed beside Haley. There were two beds, but the girls had pushed them together to make one giant one. Something they usually did on holidays when they shared a hotel room. It made it easier to whisper conversations to each other.

Pulling the blanket up to her chin, Haley snuggled closely to it and made herself comfortable before closing her eyes. "Good night, Best Friend." she whispered.

"Good night, Rockstar." Peyton whispered back. After seeing Haley sound asleep only minutes later, the curly blonde laid on her back and let out a soft, quiet sigh as she stared at the ceiling. She never meant to have to lie to her best friend, she hadn't wanted to. Things just seemed to have gotten way out of control and she just didn't have the will power to stop it. The worst part was, Haley had no idea. She still trusted the two together and acted as though they would never do anything to hurt her. Peyton wouldn't... not intentionally -- at least she used to believe that.

* * *

Nathan had been wandering around the house silently. He had been the last to head upstairs to go to bed. Usually when things were stuck in his mind he didn't get any sleep at all, and it didn't normally worry him. Even if there was a game the next day, Nathan would just stay up all night and wouldn't get tired until after the game. He'd still put in his very best and usually that was enough. After finishing watching ESPN classics, the dark haired boy made his way towards his room. 

The walk was long as he counted the doors to make sure he didn't walk in on somebody else. Haley was the thing on his mind. And he just couldn't figure out why. The girl was just someone he had to get to to get the attention of her father; to get his dream. Right? Well, lately, after the long ride up to the house things seemed to change. And those things being his feelings.

He guessed it's true what they say, the more you get to know someone the more you like them. Nathan felt the sting of guilt in the bottom of his stomach just thinking about all the lies he had told the girl. It wasn't right. But, he couldn't turn back now, could he?

* * *

It was the morning of the game, and Lucas, Jake and Tim were gathered outside putting their things in the truck, waiting for the girls and that one player. "He's trying to take your girl." Tim stated, nudging Lucas simply before throwing his bag into the back of the SUV. 

"Please. Like he could." Lucas rolled his eyes, opening up the driver's side car door to hop into.

"Where do you think he is now?" Tim retorted, "He's certainly not putting on makeup."

"He even tries, and he'll find himself never able to walk again."

"Come on guys, Nate's not that bad." Jake interrupted the two boys from the back seat of the car.

"What? Taking the kiss ass' side now?" Tim asked, before the rest of the group came out from the house. The girls were in their cheerleading outfits and Nathan was following with his stuff.

"Sorry we're late." Haley said, hopping into the car with her bag on her lap.

"That's okay." Lucas replied, the attitude in his voice changing. "You can sit up front, Tim'll move." he decided, not allowing Tim to argue.

"Oh, no. It's okay. I'm fine back here." Haley said, moving over as Nathan joined her and Lucas scowled, looking at the two in the mirror.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all the reviews you guys! It's what keeps these chapters coming at a fast pace And there will be some definite drama going on soon. 


	10. Black Eyes and Broken Hearts

**Story Title:** The Best Years  
**Synopsis:** He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG-13 (For minor language and sexual references)  
**Chapter Summary:** Celebrations are in order for the Duke Universtiy Blue Devils, but things get turned around when a game of 'I've Never' reveals some student's dirty little secrets secrets.

* * *

**The Best Years  
Chapter Ten: Black Eyes and Broken Hearts**

"Woo!" Tim exclaimed at the top of his lungs as the group emerged from the stadium after the Duke Blue Devils had become victorious for their first game.

"Lets so celebrate, huh?" Lucas interrupted as his arm found its way over Haley's shoulder, walking in between Nathan and Haley. The two had been getting too close for his liking, and he made it his duty to change that. Lucas didn't enjoy the idea of Haley having Nathan on the side; despite the fact that he was doing the exact thing... only he highly doubted Haley was macking on the dude.

"I hope you showered." she reminded him with a small smirk as the group reached the truck.

"Party at James' beach house!" Tim called out to the rest of the team.

"Say it a little louder, Dim." Peyton shook her head as she got into the SUV.

"We don't want the whole town there." Jake pushed Tim to the side to get into the car, finding his seat beside Peyton.

"Why not?" Tim questioned, obviously confused. "It's no party if there's no one there." he stated matter-of-factly before getting his balance back and hopping into the passenger's seat.

"Sit up front, this time?" Lucas questioned, taking Haley's bag and throwing it into the back of the Ford Explorer.

"Sure, why not. As long as Tim didn't like fart or anything while up there." Haley warned before Lucas smirked simply as he closed the trunk door and Haley headed up to the front of the car.

"To the back, Smith." Haley ordered as Tim threw his hands up in the air questioning her before seeing Lucas. Rolling his eyes he moved to the back.

"You'd think you'd get enough of each other already." he muttered simply as Rachel held back a small snort.

* * *

"Please tell me you've sealed the deal with her already." Tim pleaded with Lucas, along with the rest of the team. They had all gathered back at the beach house and the girls were making a bonfire at the back on the sand. Of course, they hadn't lit it yet - that was what they sent the guys in for. Matches. Though they were taking so long you'd think they were girls.

"All I have to say is no comment." Lucas said with a small smirk and a raise of his eyebrow as he took a swig from the red beer cup before seeing Nathan head back outside.

"Hey man!" Lucas exclaimed, pushing his way towards Nathan, leaving the team to wait to give their captain a high five. After getting Nathan's attention he handed the guy a cup, "Good game." he said afterwards.

Nathan shot Lucas a questioning glance, but took the drink anyways. "Thanks. You too." he added before heading out the door.

"Finally! What were you guys doing? Discussing beauty secrets?" Theresa joked as she moved over to make room for Jason, another player on the team.

"Lets get this bonfire started!" Rachel exclaimed, drinking the beer in her cup. Nathan lit a match and threw it into the pit, watching the logs ignite. "I've got a spot over here, Nate." the red head invited with a sly smile, patting the spot beside her on the bench seductively. Oh, she had plans to have fun tonight, and if Nathan went along with it -- well that would just make things even better.

Haley rolled her eyes, watching Rachel throw herself at Nathan. Bringing her cup to her mouth, she downed a few sips of beer that Lucas had given her earlier and leaned back in the lawn chair. Peyton turned on the music before sitting across from Lucas, the fire being the only thing seperating their glances every so often.

"We should totally play 'I never'!" Bevin exclaimed, almost falling off of her seat after raising her hands eagerly to get the attention of the others.

"Sounds like fun." Theresa agreed.

"Cool." the others agreed.

"Who's first?" Peyton questioned.

"Lets let the star player start." Rachel suggested, letting one hand rest on Nathan's thigh. The boy decided that if he wanted to fit in, he might as well go along with whatever was going -- which meant not pulling away when Rachel decided to throw herself all over him. In fact, it might have even boosted his confidence up a notch with these kids.

"Okay." Lucas nodded, "I've never not had sex." he smirked as the group laughed, all but Bevin.

"What does that even mean?" she questioned. "Like, are we supposed to drink if we've never turned down sex?"

"That, and if you're a virgin - drink." Jake answered. Peyton shot a glance towards Haley, in fact mostly everyone did all expecting her to drink.

"Oh, that's real mature." the Haley stated, punching Lucas in the shoulder as the guys chuckeled in amusement.

"Dude!" a guy from the school exclaimed with a smirk. "You finally sealed the deal, huh?"

"Hope you used a condom." one bystander spoke up.

"Guess you can't wear white anymore, can you sweetie?" another responded as Haley pursed her lips together.

"Hey!" Peyton exclaimed, standing up to defend her best friend. "Please, like any of you have the right to say things like that!"

Lucas just continued to smirk, looking around to see if anyone else took a drink. Only a few girls drank, one after another until Jake and Nathan joined the tally. "Jake, man." Lucas shook his head, as the subject was soon changed. Of course, with a scowling and hurt girlfriend, he didn't expect much 'loving' that night. Haley noticed Nathan drinking and arched an eyebrow at him, quite surprised really. He didn't seem like the kind to be a virgin, much like Jake. One of those don't judge a book by its cover type stories she guessed.

"My turn!" Bevin said simply, "I've never... I've never lied to a good friend." she said.

"That's weak, Bev." Rachel complained. Peyton's eyes widened as Lucas took a sip from his drink, Tim joining. She decided that if others were drinking, she might as well. Even though it was a game, maybe it would feel good for once tell the truth. Haley James just kept getting blows to the heart that night, seeing her best friend drinking, along with her boyfriend she scrunched her forehead together to show Peyton that she better have a good explaination, and it better not involve a story about how she lied to her.

"Okay, okay. I've got one." a guy said, standing up from a seat. "I've never been unfaithful." It was then that Lucas and Peyton froze. As Rachel took a drink from her cup like it was no big deal, Peyton and Lucas eyed each other as Haley watched Lucas carefully. Matching his eye line with Peyton's, she shook her head. Getting up from her seat she walked over to stand behind Lucas. Lifting her cup in her hand she poured what was left onto the top of his head and watched it drip down his face, the back of his head and as some made wet marks in the sand.

"Ass." she whispered into Lucas' ear before dropping her cup onto his lap and then heading back into the house. Nathan was quite surprised that Haley finally put two and two together, but something told him she wasn't totally sure. The dark haired boy stood up, getting Rachel's hands off of him and started to follow Haley back into the house.

"Hey! Lover boy, where do you think you're going?" By now, Lucas' anger was boiling inside of his veins, and all he wanted was something... or in this case someone to punch.

"To go inside." he answered, "Maybe be the first person in a while to be truthful to your girlfriend... or ex-girlfriend I'm guessing."

"You tell her anything ... well just remember what I mentioned before." Lucas warned him, placing his hand on Nathan's shoulder with that same smirk that Nathan was beginning to hate. "She doesn't have any proof. Not any solid proof anyway. And who do you think she's going to believe? Some new kid who she knows nothing about, or a guy who's been her boyfriend for a long time, oh and lets not forget her best friend since kindergarten." he added softly.

"We'll see." Nathan spat back at him before finding Lucas' fist connecting with his face. Backing up somewhat, Nathan touched his eyebrow where his fist had connected. Feeling some blood, he stabalized himself enough to see Lucas high fiving Tim and some other guys. "Hey!" he called out, "We're not done." he said.

"Well I am." Lucas laughed at him. Nathan moved closer before punching him in the face.

"Now we are." he finished. "And next time you want to threaten me, try finding something better to threaten me with. Because, if this is the best you have, then it's not even a fight." Nathan walked away from an angered and frustrated Lucas, heading into the house.


	11. Lies and Whispers

**Story Title:** The Best Years  
**Synopsis:** He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Rated:** PG-13 -- for some minor language  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to know.)  
The aftermath of the 'I Never' Game.

**

* * *

**

**The Best Years  
Chapter 11: Lies and Whispers**

Haley spun a bottle cap on the counter mindlessly, her eyes following it round and round again until it would stop and fall flat onto the counter once again. The blonde sighed and closed her eyes as her chin was pressed into the palm of her hand. Did she over-react? Was she seeing something that simply wasn't happening? She always trusted Peyton and Lucas together, they were always the people she trusted the most - other than her father. But it seemed everybody got a kick out of lying to her. Shrugging at the thought she heard a knock and turned around, seeing Nathan standing in the doorway.

"Mind if I come in?" he asked, letting his hand fall down from the door frame as Haley nodded her head and he joined her at the breakfast island counter, sitting down on the stool. He touched his scratch once more before focusing on Haley, and the bottle cap.

"What happened to you?" she shot up, concerned.

"Lucas." he answered, as if that would explain everything. Haley frowned before looking around.

"You should clean that." the blonde said before getting up and heading towards a cupboard where she knew the first aid kit was.

"No, it's fine." Nathan insisted, shaking his head. He was never one to enjoy doctor's, they always lied when they said it wouldn't hurt one bit.

"No, it's not. It could get infected." Haley responded, finding the kit and taking it out, placing it on the counter and taking the lid off of it. Searching for some swabs, she took them out of their package and started to clean Nathan's eyebrow up. "I hope you got this because you hit him." she told him honestly.

Nathan smiled and laughed softly. "No, he hit me then I hit him. Chain reaction." he explained. Nathan wasn't much of a fighter, but it wasn't because he couldn't or didn't know how. It was simply because he didn't enjoy the aftermath of it all. Right now was a perfect example, but getting cleaned up by Haley James wasn't that bad.

Haley nodded in response, as Nathan continued to watch her. The way her facial expressions changed as she softly placed the swabs against his cut, as if she was afraid that he'd start screaming in pain. It was then that he noticed her beautiful eyes. "Can I ask you a question?" he spoke, breaking the silence.

"Sure."

"What happened back there?" Nathan wanted to get his facts straight before deciding whether or not to tell Haley what he saw. Truth was, if she hadn't come to the conclusion that he thought she had and he told her, Haley had no reason to believe him. All Nathan had really been doing to her lately was lying. About his financial situation, his parents, his whole life.

The blonde sighed, finishing him up in silence before leaning against the counter. "Is it wrong to suspect something could be going on between those two?" she questioned, knowing he knew who she was talking about. "I mean, I never really thought about it much until Bevin mentioned lying and then the next question came up. I saw them staring at one another, as if they were silently trying to figure out whether or not to drink. I'm not just being paranoid am I?"

Nathan shook his head. _"Here goes nothing."_ He thought to himself before looking at her. "Haley, I have something to tell you."

Haley shifted on her feet, arching an eyebrow curiously. "Okay. So, back at that party you had at your house a couple of weeks ago, uhm... when I arrived I saw something..." Haley nodded, encouraging him to go on. "... I saw Lucas... kissing Peyton."

The blonde froze in the spot that she was standing, swallowing the large lump forming in her throat. "Oh my god." she whispered quietly to herself. "Excuse me." she told him as Nathan moved away and Haley hurried out of the room and up the stairs.

* * *

"If she finds out, I'm so killing you." Peyton told Lucas angrily. 

"Oh, so now this is my fault?" Lucas rolled his eyes, "Peyton, it takes two to tango. You've wanted me ever since I was with Haley, don't deny that."

Peyton scoffed, "Get over yourself." she exclaimed, pushing him out of the way as she walked inside. She had managed to get the last of the conversation, standing in the other room watching Haley run off upstairs. The curly blonde walked into the kitchen and glared at Nathan.

"You had no right to tell her." she told him.

"Just like you had no right to kiss her boyfriend." Nathan spat back at the girl.

Peyton let out an agitated groan before following Haley up the stairs. The blonde found herself knocking on the door into the room before opening it cautiously, only to see Peyton's things being packed back up into her suitcase. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm packing your things." Haley spat, "I'm sure you and Lucas would prefer a more personal space where you two can do whatever you want to each other."

"Come on Haley-"

"No! I don't want to hear it." Haley exclaimed, handing Peyton her suitcase, "I trusted you. You're supposed to be my best friend."

"I am."

"No. No you're not. Best friends don't sleep with their boyfriends!" she exclaimed, not allowing her own tears to show. She didn't want to show that they had gotten to her. Haley had to be strong... for her own sake. "I'm sure you two will fit right in at some slutty hotel. I think I saw one meant just for having affairs across town." she told her.

"Hales." Peyton said softly, obviously having been hurt by all of this. "You weren't supposed to find out like this."

"You mean, I wasn't supposed to find out at all, right? I was supposed to remain an idiot and let you two sneak around my back!?" the blonde shook her head, her voice cracking the louder it got. "Well guess what? The smart girl has stopped being a clueless idiot."

* * *

"Night guys." Lucas said to some of his teammates that were left before walking back into the house, seeing Peyton on the couch. "What are you doing?" 

"Oh, you know. I just enjoy this couch so much that I gave up the comfortable bed to sleep here." Peyton replied sarcastically. "What does it look like I'm doing? Trying to sleep. Haley kicked me out of the room. Told us to find a motel. Your stuff is over there, by the way." she said, pointing towards the front entrance.

"So, how long do you think it's going to take for all this stuff to blow over?" he questioned. Lucas knew many things, and he knew that in due time that he and Haley would work things out. If it was what her father wanted, then it would happen. And the James/Scott family had wanted the two kids to join the two great American families together for years now. He knew with a little persuasion and guilt he could get Haley to forgive him. It just had to be at the right time.

Peyton groaned, "Do you not understand what just happened?" she asked, sitting up on the couch. "Me and you. Us." she motioned her hands back and forth in between the two of them. "We're done. We're out. Everybody knows."

"Why does that make us done?" he questioned her. "The way I see it, is that we can finally kiss in public."

"Lucas! You think after all this I'm going to shove it in my best friend's face that we went behind her back and betrayed her? Because if you do, you're seriously much more of a clueless asshole than I thought you were."

_"Is everyone PMS'ing these days?" T_he captain of the basketball team thought to himself with a sigh. 


	12. After The Fall

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG-13  
**Chapter Synopsis:** (Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled!)  
Peyton and Haley clash, Nathan tries to cheer Haley up before the game that will determine Duke's placement in the finals.

* * *

**The Best Years**

**Chapter 12: After The Fall**

"Come on Haley! Please, just... just listen to me." Peyton pleaded with the angry blonde haired girl pacing around, her feet kicking up sand with every step she made on the shore of the beach. The rest of the group had gone on some sailing trip with Lucas' parents' sail boat the day after the night everything had been revealed. Haley had stayed, while Peyton decided to stay too, wanting to make things right. But, she knew it wouldn't be that easy. Peyton knew she couldn't just say 'I'm sorry' and they would become best friends again. Unfortunately, life didn't let you get away with these things that easily. "Please." she added in a whisper, her voice desperate.

"What do you want Peyton?" Haley spat back, finally responding to the girl after stopping in her tracks. She watched as Peyton flinched from the iciness of her voice after she had spun around quickly to face her friend... or her old friend. "And if it's another apology, don't even bother. Another 'I'm sorry' isn't going to cut it, Peyton. You hurt me! I left you alone with him, and I bet all along you two were laughing at how stupid I was behind my back. Weren't you!?" she exclaimed, her voice cold, stern and accusing.

"No." the curly blonde insisted once more. "Haley, it just happened. It's not like I planned to betray you."

"Oh, it just happened did it?" she scoffed, "Oh, yeah, Peyton. That makes it all better. Why, I don't even feel angry anymore. In fact, I totally forgive you. If it just happened, then, it's not your fault at all..." her voice high, dripping with sarcasm before she snapped back into her old state. "Except when you kept letting it so-called 'happen'."

Peyton looked down at her fumbling hands that were fidgeting, ashamed. "Haley, we were friends first first. Please. I messed up, and I'm sorry. I want us to be friends last."

"Oh, so you want us to be friends still? I see, so you sleep with my boyfriend and expect for us to still be best friends?"

"Buds over studs." she muttered in response.

"You know what, Peyton!?" Haley exclaimed, having heard her comment. "No, you do not get to say that. We were once hoes over bro's, buds over studs; but not anymore. You ruined that promise by sleeping with _my_ boyfriend. How are we supposed to go back to that? Am I supposed to feel okay with looking over my shoulder everytime I leave you alone with a guy that I like, or a guy that I'm dating? Am I supposed to just act like I'm completely fine with not trusting my own best friend?!" she threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Just in case you haven't figured it out Blondie, the answer is no. I'm not okay with that. I'm not okay with not trusting my best friend."

The blonde shot up her head, did that mean that they weren't best friends anymore? The way Haley had put it, sure made it seem like it. Just the thought of it made herself cringe with pain as it shot straight to her heart. There was no way she could lose another part of her family. Because that's what Haley was, family.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're out of my life, Peyton. And I want you out of my house." she added shortly after, her voice more tender, but still stern.

"Haley, please. Don't." Peyton pleaded as her eyes started to water, not believing any of this was happening. "I can't lose my best friend."

"Well, then I guess now you have something to be tortured about." she said simply, referring to people calling her a 'tortured artist'. Haley took one more look at Peyton before turning on her heel and hurrying up to her deck and heading inside, not allowing a tear to fall in the process.

* * *

Haley stabbed her fork around on her plate later that night at the dinner table. Her dad was still off doing god knows what, and personally she didn't have the thought to ask at the time he was telling her he wasn't going to be home for dinner and to order food for everyone. Well, everyone minus two. Two people that weren't allowed near her, or the beach house, and that will remain unmentionable. 

"Hey! James!" Tim yelled, coming into the dining room. The group had already started their ritual bonfire outside, Haley having not eaten for most of the day decided that it was best to eat alone. That way she could dodge the questions. Looking up, she saw Tim approaching her. "So, is Scott coming here, or what? We need to know so we can decide whether or not to light it up."

"Just light it." the blonde responded mindlessly as Tim nodded, knowing not to question her mood and then headed back out of the room, only to be replaced by a dark haired boy who knocked, instead of yelled her name, on the door frame.

"Hey." he announced his presence shortly after Haley didn't look up.

"Oh, hi." the girl said swiftly, still poking at her potato salad that was sitting beside two pieces of Hawaiian pizza on her plate. Nathan cautiously took a seat across the table from Haley, placing his hands on the surface, quickly intertwining them.

"So, I hope you don't want to shoot the messenger..." he started hesitantly. Nathan hadn't really spoken to Haley all day, and he was afraid that she was angry with him too.

"No, of course not." she answered quickly, shaking her head. "Not unless you're a scheming little tramp-whore." she muttered underneath her breath. Normally, Haley would object to calling anybody names, but right now she believed she had the right.

Nodding, still a little nervous; her outburst not having helped him, he cocked an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to eat those pieces? They look pretty good."

"I've lost my appetite." Haley told him honestly, offering her plate up to him.

"Thanks." he offered a small thankful smile before stealing one of the pizza slices and taking a quick bite.

The couple sat in silence for what felt like hours, Haley continuing to stab her fork against her plate, twirling her salad around the now free places on the plate after Nathan ate the last slice. The two sharing quick eye glances at each other, always missing by a few moments, it wasn't until the four hundredth or five hundredth time that they actually ended up connecting some eye contact and Nathan broke the silence.

"You sure you don't want to come outside? Tim's bound to burn something off, lets hope that it won't be his clothing though." he offered, trying to cheer the girl up with a side smirk appearing on his face. Haley simply laughed softly and shook her head. "You know what? No, I'm not going to take no for an answer." the blonde cocked an eyebrow. "If you let yourself sit here and sulk they've won. Now, you're not going to let those two win are you?" he continued.

Haley sighed, letting him get to her as he held out his hand after reaching her side of the table a few moments later. Haley placed her hand softly in his, and Nathan couldn't help but take a hold of the soft, porcelain skin as the two headed out towards the back deck that led to the beach.

Haley obliged, following his lead, and not pulling her hand away from his grasp. It wasn't until the two reached the rest of the group that their hands dropped from one another's and acted as though nothing had happened. Nathan couldn't let that happen again, nothing could jeoprodize his basketball. But, then again, would having a thing for the Coach's daughter be that bad? Unless... unless you were Lucas Scott and you broke the girl's heart. He couldn't help but smirk at the idea of Lucas not getting onto the Charlotte team because of it.

The night went on, Tim embarrassing himself the more swigs he took from his cup and Haley mindlessly forced out a laugh when everyone else started. She didn't want to be a downer, but she had a right to not want to suddenly be a party animal, right? Haley wasn't a party animal to begin with, anyway.

* * *

The Blue Devils had their next game at noon the day after their ritual bonfire. This game would determine whether or not they'd be going into the finals, which made many players extra stressed, and some... like Tim, well they obviously were still too drunk to even understand where they were. But, as it would seem, Tim played better when he was drunk than when he did when he was sober. Probably because he had no access to his regular brain.

Haley had forced herself to go to the game, not allowing neither Peyton nor Lucas the satisfaction of seeing her hurt. Heartbroken, in fact. Sure, she knew that the two weren't exactly true love, or anything, but she thought there was still love. Haley still loved Lucas, despite everything. Despite how much of an ass he was during most of their relationship. You can't help who you love.

Peyton grabbed her pom poms from the ground, glancing towards Haley without getting a gaze in return. Usually the girls would discuss who would score the winning basket, and lately there had always been a discussion as to whether it would be Nathan or Lucas. Peyton had managed to get a hotel room, despite how busy the town usually was during the basketball tournament. Surprise, surprise, the room was right next to Lucas'. The two had caught a ride together after being kicked out by Haley. Lucas, being slapped in the face during on of the couple's fights. Peyton still couldn't help but question whether he still felt the same way he had before -- whether Haley would still take him back when things died down.

"Lets go!" Theresa started chanting during the second half of the game. The Duke Blue Devils were winning, of course, but their opposing team was trailing very closely behind. Ten seconds left, Nathan Lee had the ball, dribbling down the court. Lucas Scott being double teamed at one side of the court, the crowd cheered for Nathan to shoot the ball.

Five seconds now. Nathan raised his hand up with the ball and shot it in from the three-pointer line, his hand staying up in the air as the basketball rolled off his fingertips and headed towards the hoop. 'Swoosh' the ball went in and the crowd went wild. Haley smiled and couldn't help the cheerful energy that came out when the team won. Despite what had been going on lately, Haley was just glad that Nathan had made the shot instead of Lucas.

* * *

"Congratulations, Mr. Hot Shot." Haley greeted the dark haired boy now changed out of his uniform and back into the team's dress code before the game. A dress shirt and a tie, along with dress pants.

"Thanks, Miss Cheerleader." Nathan responded with a small smirk on his face. That infamous smirk, that same smirk that Haley had to admit always made her heart melt, of course she'd never let that show.

"Ready for the finals?" the blonde asked, just as Lucas brushed past them, knocking Nathan to the side before turning around and raising an eyebrow cockily at Haley and then leaving the stadium. Haley groaned, agitated before turning to Nathan who was regaining his stance.

"Sorry." she muttered.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait guys! Thank you all to who've been reviewing and reading! Reviews always manage to make my day. For now, there will be no updates again until I get back from my vacation.


	13. Keep Me In Your Heart

**Story Title: **The Best Years  
**Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Rated:** PG  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to know.)  
Peyton is at the cemetary on the day of her father's death, Haley goes to console her old friend. Is this the start of a new beginning for these two best friends?

* * *

**Chapter 13: Keep Me In Your Heart  
**

_I'll be right here when you need me  
Anytime just keep believing  
And I'll be right here  
If you ever need a friend  
Someone to care and understand  
I'll be right here_

It had been two weeks, since the dreaded tournament that never seemed to end... well finally ended. The Duke Blue Devils had made it into the finals and with Nathan Scott as the new star player scored the winning shot, Duke University one the N-C Double-A's. Haley and Nathan had gotten closer over those two weeks, after Haley isolated herself from Peyton and Lucas all together. As much as Haley missed her best friend, she had never felt so betrayed in her life... that feeling just didn't seem to want to go away long enough for Haley to even consider forgiving her.

The blonde was supposed to be hanging out with Nathan later on that day. They had no classes with it being Saturday, and the couple had decided to hang out and watch some movies at Haley's house. Nathan still hiding the real story of his life from the girl he was secretly falling for. But he couldn't. Nathan couldn't let that happen. Nothing could get in the way of his chances of playing professional ball. Nothing.

Even if she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met, not to mention the nicest with her warm smile always managing to make him feel better. She put others first, which just made his feelings run deeper. Nathan had never planned for any of it to happen. You can't help who you fall for.

The blonde groaned as she heard a 'ding' come from her computer, signaling she had a new email. She was sure she had turned that off when Peyton and Lucas kept sending her emails telling her they were sorry. Well, Lucas just kept on saying how much she needed to get over it already. Rolling her eyes at the thought, she rolled out of bed, but not before checking the clock. Eight o'clock... in the morning? Geez. Haley was a morning person for the most part, but after spending the whole night waiting for her dad to come home from his so-called date with Anna Sawyer, she was more tired than usual.

Making herself comfortable in her seat, Haley deleted Lucas' email but not Peyton's. Something told her to stop and read it before discarding it. Peyton had always been her best friend, was it right to just flush that friendship down the toilet? Could they not get past this?

Haley opened up the email and before she even read past the first sentence, she remembered what day it was. She couldn't believe she even forgot for one second about it. Without finishing the email, she grabbed a jacket and rushed out the door - not caring that she was still in pyjama pants and a plain white tank top.

* * *

_All you have to do is call my name  
No matter how close or far away  
Ask me once and I'll come  
I'll come running  
And when I can't be with you dream me near  
Keep me in your heart and I'll appear  
All you gotta do is turn around  
Close your eyes  
Look inside  
I'm right here _

When Haley reached her destination, she parked her car behind the familiar collectible convertible. A sigh fell from her lips as she saw the familiar curly blonde sitting on her knees a little ways away from where her car was on the grass.

Biting her bottom lip, Haley decided against driving away at the sight of the girl. She knew she was crying. She always did on the second of June. It was one of the only days that her old best friend would ever let down her defences enough to show some sign of how she felt. Even if it was just in front of Haley.

Opening the door to her SUV, she felt the drops of new rain falling on her face but ignored them, closing the door and hurrying towards the figure. Dropping herself down next to her friend, she was silent for a few moments, but they both knew that they were there. Finally, the curly blonde turned her head to reveal fresh tears mixed with the rain drops on her face.

"P.Sawyer." she whispered, pulling her into a long hug, Haley's grasp tight, as if she were holding on to her friend for dear life.

Peyton had waited forever to hear her best friend call her P.Sawyer again. She had waited for Haley to return a message, or an email but after the couple of weeks that went by with no sign of her best friend even trying to mend things, Peyton had given up all hope. As Haley pulled her in for a hug, Peyton froze up, not used to the feeling of her hugs as much as she had been before, but as time wore on she relaxed and broke down in Haley's arms. "I miss him, Haley." she whispered softly, feeling Haley's fingers entangle themselves through her hair as Haley's other hand was firmly placed on her back. Something about Haley was always comforting. Just the thought of her friend being there, even after everything, gave her hope that maybe she'd be okay. Maybe they'd be okay.

As Peyton sobbed into Haley's chest, Haley rubbed Peyton's back soothingly, not saying a word but her actions saying all that was needed. She knew how much her old friend missed her father, partially because it was just as much as Haley missed her mother. The only difference was there was still that slim chance that Haley could see her mother again. With Peyton, that chance was gone.

And that's how the two girls stayed, Peyton in Haley's arms as she let her emotions get the best of her like they usually did on days like this. Even as the rain started to pound on their faces and tangle their hair, the two girls never moved. Not an inch. Not until Haley knew that Peyton would be okay again.

It had only been an hour when the girls pulled away, Peyton not wanting to simply because she knew that afterward they'd have to go back to reality. And in reality, Peyton had lost her best friend because of a stupid mistake.

"You read my email." Peyton said finally, breaking the silence between the couple. It was more of a statement, rather than a question. Peyton had been afraid Haley had forgotten about her promise. A promise that had been made right after her father died, at his funeral.

_Isn't it great that you know that  
I'm ready to go wherever you're at  
Anywhere I'll be there_

_All you have to do is call my name  
No matter how close or far away_

_Flashback_

_"I don't believe it." Haley told the girl honestly, an arm wrapped around her best friend as they watched from afar as the casket was laid in the grave site._

_"Can you promise me something?" Peyton interupted, speaking for the first time that day it felt like. _

_Haley looked at Peyton's tear-stained face and nodded, "Anything." _

_"Can you promise that we'll always be best friends? That no matter what happens, you'll always be around?" _

_Haley's eyes widened as if she were surprised at the fact that Peyton would even doubt that. "P.Sawyer, I'll always be here for you. You'll always be my best friend, and nothing could ever change that. I promise you that no matter what gets thrown our way, every day from this day forward, I'll be right here where you need me." she promised her best friend, wrapping her free hand across Peyton's body and pulling her closer. Peyton let the tears flow once again as the two gazed at the sight in front of them in silence, Haley crying along with the blonde. _

_End of Flashback_

_Ask me once and I'll come  
I'll come runnin  
And when I can't be with you dream me near  
Keep me in your heart and I'll appear  
All you gotta do is turn around  
Close your eyes  
Look inside  
I'm right here_

"Actually, I opened it but I didn't read it." Haley told the girl honestly. "You really think that I'd forget my promise?"

Peyton shrugged, "I didn't think you'd forget... I just think you wouldn't care."

The blonde's eyes widened, not believing what she had just heard, "Peyton." she asid sternly, making Peyton look at her seriously, "No matter what happens, no matter where you are, no matter where I am. No matter what the circumstances are, I'll always be here. I'll always be right here." she promised once more. "All you gotta do is call." she whispered.  
Peyton's eyes welled up quickly once more, "I miss my best friend, Haley." she told her honestly.

"So do I." Haley responded quietly, looking down at her hands that were now resting on her lap.

"Can't we start over? Please."

"Peyton, it's not that easy. You made me feel like an idiot." she reminded her, "I've never felt so betrayed in my entire life. And what sucks the most is that it wasn't done by someone I hated. It was done by you. My best friend in the whole entire world. I never thought it was possible to be hurt so much by someone I loved."

Peyton looked down, ashamed as she tried to hold in the sobs that threatened to fall. She felt the rain pelt down even harder than it had only moments earlier and just then was when she noticed how soaked they had really become. "Tell me what to do Haley, please. I'll do anything." she spoke up a few minutes later, breaking the unbearable silence.

"That's what sucks, Peyton. I don't think there is anything you can do to make this better." she said softly.

"I can't lose you, Haley. I've already tried living with that, and I can't." Peyton told her friend honestly.

_Whenever you need me  
There's no need to worry  
You know that I'm gonna be  
Right here_

"You haven't lost me, Peyton. I'm right here." Haley reassured her, "I just don't see how we can go back to the way things were. I'm not going anywhere." she promised once more. "I'll always be here for you. None of it will change."

"It already has." Peyton muttered.

"I'll always love you more than anything, P.Sawyer." she said softly, "I just can't trust you." Peyton bit her bottom quivering lip before Haley continued. "I'm always right here."

"It's not the same, Haley."

_Ask me once and I'll come  
I'll come running  
And when I can't be with you dream me near  
Keep me in your heart and I'll appear  
All you gotta do is turn around  
Close your eyes  
Look inside  
I'm right here  
Oh yeah yeah  
I'm right here _

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait you guys! This chapter's a little more depressing than the others, but I thought I needed to show how much these two friends really meant to each other. Will they be friends again? sings some mystery theme song Only time will tell. ;) Let me know what you guys think! I really love the reviews that are longer, they're wonderful to read ;) 

The song is by Miley Cyrus, "Right Here" I thought it fit their friendship perfectly. It just may be featured later on in the fic as well._  
_


	14. We're Sinking With The Melody of a Kiss

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG13  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled)  
Haley and Nathan have their movie night, while Lucas pops in unexpected and another surprise is to be delivered to Haley.

**Author's Note:** I'd like to thank everyone of you that's reviewed. You guys are what motivate me to update more! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 14: We're Sinking With The Melody of a Kiss  
**

After leaving the cemetery, Haley headed back home with the heater blaring. Hot air filled the car as Haley tried to keep herself warm. The wet clothing covering her body weren't helping her chattering teeth as she reached her house fifteen minutes later. A sigh fell from her lips as she noticed Nathan waiting by the front door, remembering that they had plans and she hadn't called to tell him she'd be late. Hopping out of the car quickly, she hunched over as if she was trying to dodge the rain and headed to the front door, standing up straight once reaching the cover on the front porch. "Sorry." she spoke, her teeth still chattering. It was obvious that she was freezing.

The sight of Haley took Nathan's breath away, despite all his tries not to look her over he had to. Her clothes were wet, and hugged every curve of her body. "That's okay." he finally managed as he dragged his eyes away from her body, watching her unlock the door quickly. "Where were you?" he asked curiously as she closed the door.

"Just... dealing with some things." Haley said simply before running up the stairs towards her bedroom, "I'll be right back! The movies are on the kitchen counter, I think." she called down before heading into her bedroom.

Nathan was used to the abnormally large mansion that Haley lived in. He had been there many times in the past weeks to know his way around... for the most part anyway. He took a quick glance towards the table in the front foyer, smiling as he noticed pictures of a young Haley. A laugh fell from his lips at the sigh of the second framed picture, it was obvious it was Christmas since she was wearing a Santa hat, but she was making a funny face with her mother. Her mother wasn't hard to spot, she looked a lot like Haley. Nathan knew the story, and knew not to bring it up a lot.

Finding his way into the kitchen, he saw the DVDs piled on top of one another. A smile graced his lips once more as he noticed that Haley had managed to pick up a variety of themes, knowing that they had a hard time both agreeing on one thing. This way they could both watch one movie they both liked. At least, that's how he saw it.

It was only a few minutes that passed before Haley emerged into the kitchen. Her wet hair now pulled back into a messy loose bun at the back of her head, while a Duke cheerleading zip up hoodie covered her matching Duke University sweatpants. "Ready? Popcorn's already in the room." she made her presence known.

Nathan turned around, once again enjoying the beauty that was Haley James. It was amazing how she could look good in anything, and it was only a few days ago that he had realized how many times he stole glances at her. Shaking the thought out of his head, he nodded quickly, grabbing the movies. "So, please tell me you don't plan on making me watch The Notebook again." he started.

"Oh, come on Nathan!" Haley threw her hands up. The two had had this discussion again, always ending in Nathan giving up ever trying to convince Haley that guys didn't really enjoy those kind of movies. Haley was convinced it was the ultimate movie that anybody who believed in love had to enjoy. "It's one of those movies that are just destined to be a classic date movie." she said simply, immediately regretting her choice of words. Date. Haley mentally kicked herself, but was soon glad as Nathan hadn't noticed it. Or, he just hadn't done anything about it.

* * *

Lucas had been dealing with the wrath of his father after not getting the winning shot at the championships. A groan erupted from his throat when he heard Mr. Dan Scott pull out from the driveway. Thank God. Lucas was finally home alone, which meant he could do whatever the hell he wanted without trying to avoid his father and his anger. Or, as he put it - his disappointment. It wasn't disappointment. It was pure hatred that Lucas had allowed Nathan to be in the spotlight. The blonde boy didn't quite get what he had against the kid, but he chose to ignore it. 

Getting up off his bed, he made his way downstairs and grabbed his car keys. Getting into his car Lucas spent the next half hour debating where he should go. There was always Brooke Davis. The girl he had made the mistake of getting together with the first time he had been unfaithful to his girlfriend, Haley James. Or rather, ex-girlfriend? Well, for now anyway. Until she got over herself. Rolling his eyes at the thought, he turned down a street as the light turned green. Shouldn't her time of the month be up yet?

Lucas pulled into the driveway of a large house, hopping out of his car after turning it off. Reaching for the door knob, his hand wrapped around it and tried it. Finding it open, he walked inside quietly wanting to surprise the resident. But, before he could figure out by himself, he heard laughter erupting from the movie room. He knew where that was, having spent many nights before watching movies with her and friends, and sometimes family night with her and her father. But, there was an unfamiliar laughter adjoining hers. A man's laughter.

Clenching his fists at the thought of who it could be, his worst nightmare had come true. Haley James... had moved on to Nathan Lee? That was the last straw. There was no way that he was letting him take his spot on the team _and _his girlfriend. If he couldn't have Haley, why should Nathan?

* * *

Getting home, Lucas was determined to find out everything he could about this Nathan kid. Who he was. Where he was from. Anything that may prove that he wasn't right for Haley. Anything that would bring her back to him. Something that would make her crawl back, begging for him to forgive her. Even if he should be doing that instead of her. He smirked at the thought, parking the car, and headed back inside his house knowing that his parents weren't home from their date. Or, whatever they were doing. He wasn't even sure if they had gone out together, he only knew that they had gone out at the same time. 

Finding his way into his father's study, he sat down at his desk and opened up a laptop, searching through some things on his desktop. There had to be something about a Nathan Lee somewhere on there. His father would have done the same thing as him, wouldn't he? In fact, Lucas was pretty sure that his father had already done research on the boy. His father was determined to live out his dream with Lucas. And that meant getting rid of any competition. Not that he'd ever admit Nathan was competition.

* * *

After watching _Friday Night Lights _with Nathan, Haley's mouth formed an 'o' shape as she yawned, not even trying to hide it. She added a dramatic effect, though, just to show how boring sports movies were. Even if she had enjoyed this one to an extent. Nathan simply laughed at the sight and shook his head. 

"I was sure it would never end." Haley joked, mocking Nathan's earlier comments about her movie of choice, _A Walk To Remember_.

He smirked at Haley, their gaze locking but neither of them looked away like they usually did. This time it was different. Haley had tried her best to ignore the feelings that were erupting inside. She couldn't be jumping this quick back into a relationship. She couldn't be falling for a boy she hardly knew anything about. Then again, he wasn't like Lucas - that much she was sure. He wasn't a liar. Right?

Nathan swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat as he glanced down at his hand that was now resting on Haley's. Mindlessly, he hadn't even noticed when he had moved it slowly to place over top of her hand. Her skin was smooth, and he could feel how warm she was now. After shooting his glance back to Haley's, he noticed she was looking at the same thing he had been just a few seconds ago.

Haley didn't know when exactly his hand had landed on top of hers, but she hadn't pulled it away. His touch sent shivers up and down her spine, and it wasn't the bad kind of shiver. And it definitely wasn't because she was cold. Her eyes caught his baby blue ones and she had to try her hardest to breathe properly, reminding herself to breathe in and out at the same time.

"Haley..." the brunette boy interrupted the silence, his voice cracking at first as it was hard for him to speak. The silence had been killing him, and he knew he had to do something about it. But, his hand didn't move from hers.

Haley looked at him curiously, as if to tell him to keep talking; she was listening. "I should go." he cleared his throat, losing his nerve.

"Oh, right. Yeah." Haley said, trying to hide her disappointment in her voice as her hand slipped out from underneath his. Licking her lips awkwardly, she stood up quickly getting ready to say goodbye to the boy at the door.

As the two walked, led by Nathan, to the front door Haley caught up with him to open the door and let him out. But, Nathan didn't seem to want to leave like he said. He froze just before stepping out onto the front porch and turned around to Haley. The blonde felt that shiver once more, wondering why he had stopped. These mixed signals kept killing her hopes and then bringing them back, and it was times like these when she wanted to just tell Nathan that she felt she was falling for him.

"You deserve better than him," he started. "I just wanted to tell you that. You shouldn't let him hurt you. He's an ass to have even cheated." Haley opened her mouth to say something but he kept going, not allowing her to stop him. "You're beautiful, Haley. Even in sweatpants and a sweater, you still manage to be gorgeous." he smiled as he looked at her to show he was being truly genuine.

"Nathan-" she finally managed, before feeling his lips crash against hers, interrupting whatever thought that was processing through her head at the time. Haley felt her heart sink, in the good way, as his hands reached up and cupped her face, deepening the kiss before he pulled away.

With their foreheads resting against one another, Nathan managed to tell her the one thing he thought he'd never say, "I think I'm falling for you, Haley James."


	15. What Goes Around, Comes Around

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** 14A - for some language  
**Chapter Summary:** (Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled)  
Anna Sawyer tells her daughter the truth about her relationship with Haley's father. Nathan and Haley wake up next to each other. It's the celebratory party for the Blue Devils, but it doesn't end that way for most of them.

* * *

**Chapter 15: What Goes Around Comes Around  
**

"Peyton, can I speak to you please!?" Anna Sawyer called from the kitchen of their home. She had finished making breakfast for her and her daughter, with some news that she wanted to share. Or, well tell anyway. Something Haley already knew and something that she had held off long enough. Anna was afraid Peyton wouldn't approve, and there was something going on between Peyton and Haley that she wasn't being told anything about. Haley usually was around almost everyday, especially on the weekends. Usually, her chocolate chip cookie dough that she bought every Friday (just for Haley to make for them) would be gone by the time Monday came around, but it wasn't. And it was Sunday morning. Something wasn't right, but that was for another time, the mother decided.

"What's up, Mom?" Peyton asked curiously, making her way into the kitchen dressed in her normal outfit. A pair of jeans, a band tee-shirt and a pair of Converse sneakers. She was going to head out and do something to get her mind off of all the drama that had been happening lately. That and having nobody to hang around with, life got pretty boring without Haley popping in everyday to get her out of her room.

"Well, I've got some news."

"Okay... Good news... Or bad?" she questioned her mother, sitting down at the kitchen table and taking a nibble out of the piece of bacon found on the plate.

"Well, it depends on how you look at it." Mrs. Sawyer responded hesitantly, sitting down across from her daughter at the table with her coffee cup. "Haley's father and I... have been sort of seeing each other. And, I want to know how you'd feel if we took it to the next step."

Peyton's eyes widened at the thought, _Haley's father!?_ "Haley's father? Haley James' father? As in my best friend's father?" she questioned, still not believing what she was hearing but instead of being corrected, Anna nodded in response. "Holy-" she stopped herself. "Uhm... what do you mean by the next step? Like marriage? Because... if it's marriage I'd have to sit you down and talk about you moving a little too fast there mom." she joked slightly.

Anna laughed and shook her head, "No, I mean moving in together. Jimmy thought it'd be good to merge our families and see how it works out. And since you two pretty much already spend every waking moment together, I thought it'd be a good idea."

Peyton nodded silently. "I'm happy for you Mom, that's great." she lied partially. "As long as your happy."

"I am sweetie. I am."

* * *

Haley let out a wide yawn and stretched her arms waking up early the next morning, only to feel her hand brush past someone beside her. Shocked, she sat up and looked beside her, realizing that she had fallen asleep back in her living room beside none other than Nathan Lee. A small smile fell upon her lips as she remembered the night before. 

_Flashback._

_"You deserve better than him," he started. "I just wanted to tell you that. You shouldn't let him hurt you. He's an ass to have even cheated." Haley opened her mouth to say something but he kept going, not allowing her to stop him. "You're beautiful, Haley. Even in sweatpants and a sweater, you still manage to be gorgeous." he smiled as he looked at her to show he was being truly genuine._

_"Nathan-" she finally managed, before feeling his lips crash against hers, interrupting whatever thought that was processing through her head at the time. Haley felt her heart sink, in the good way, as his hands reached up and cupped her face, deepening the kiss before he pulled away._

_With their foreheads resting against one another, Nathan managed to tell her the one thing he thought he'd never say, "I think I'm falling for you, Haley James."_

_Haley couldn't help the smile that graced her own lips as she attacked his lips with her own once more for a few moments, savoring the taste of his sweet lips before pulling away. "I think I'm falling for you too." she told him honestly as the two shared another kiss once more. _

_As the rain poured outside, everything seemed to disappear except for their heavy breathing as the two explored each other's mouths and Haley kicked the door closed, making the noise caused by the pounding rain disappear. As she allowed access for Nathan's tongue to explore her mouth, the two made their way slowly towards the living room. Haley's father being gone for a business trip for the weekend, the blonde wasn't afraid of her father walking in on them. For all he knew, her and Lucas were still together. _

_The two fell onto the couch as laughter erupted from Haley's lips once their lips parted. Nathan just smirked before maneuvering himself over top of Haley and joining their lips once more. Nathan tasted the sweet cheery lip gloss that was now rubbed off of her lips as his tongue slipped into her mouth again and his hands made sure he didn't suffocate her by falling on her with his weight._

_She let her arms rest up around his neck, pulling him closer to her as their kisses deepened and their breathing quickened once again. Nathan's mouth moved to find Haley's neck and he made butterfly kisses all along her soft skin as Haley tilted her neck and let out a soft purr. _

_And that's how the couple spent their night. Although it wasn't filled with passionate sex, it was filled with passionate kissing, and cuddling before they fell asleep in each other's arms with only their bodies to keep each other warm._

_End of Flashback._

"Good morning." a voice announced, taking her away from her world as she turned her head to see Nathan. Smiling she kissed him and found a spot in the crook of his neck to lay her head.

"And such a good morning it is." she muttered softly, even though she heard the sound of a storm brewing outside, she couldn't care less. It was a good morning, Haley loved the rain anyway.

* * *

It was a Sunday afternoon, but students of Duke University were invited to a celebration that evening. Why they had made it on a Sunday was beyond anyone, but Monday wasn't a mandatory class for anyone who didn't want to go. Well, for anyone who didn't need to be refreshed on what they had learned during that semester. Exams were coming up in a week, which meant for the seniors, they would soon be graduates of University. 

Lucas was talking with Tim in the gym of the University that was all set up for the party. Decorations hung throughout the whole building, of course their theme was the school's colors. The cheerleaders were to wear their uniforms, and the basketball players were to wear their jerseys. It was an annual thing for anyone who had been going to the school since Freshman year.

"So, you know the plan, right?" Lucas made sure, before watching 'Dim' Tim nod and the two pounded fists as more guests started to arrive, including Peyton Sawyer.

"Hey Peyt." Lucas greeted, that same smirk on his face that many would love to just wipe away.

"What do you want?" Peyton's own response wasn't exactly what the blonde boy had been expecting, but took it anyway choosing to ignore her harsh tone.

"Ready for tonight? It's going to be a blast."

"Whatever. It'll only be a blast if you plan on choking to death on the food." she spat back at the boy before walking off, arms crossed, towards some other cheerleaders. Lucas was a bit taken aback, but didn't let anyone notice as he plastered on that smirk as if he had just been told he would be getting some later on that night and walked around to find some others to talk to.

* * *

"You ready?" Nathan Scott asked one nervous Haley James outside of the practice gym's entrance. Haley nodded her head as the two entered, Nathan holding the door open for the girl. 

Immediately, Haley felt all eyes set on her and whispers erupting throughout the gym. She looked down at her feet, finding Nathan beside her as she quickly took a hold of his hand. Nathan had offered to skip the whole thing, let them have their own celebration but Haley told him that it was alright. He should have a chance to celebrate with his teammates... the ones that he liked anyway.

The party was underway, and as soon as the couple disappeared towards the drink tables, heads were turned back into the direction they had been before hand and people chose to wait until Monday for the rumors they had all been thinking up to surface throughout the school. Not many knew about Lucas and Peyton, let alone knew about Haley and Lucas' break up. But, they would by the end of the night... and if Lucas had anything to say about it, he wouldn't be the bad guy.

* * *

"I heard she was banging him since he got here." one girl whispered as Peyton walked away from the drink table, and the group of girls hissed with laughter, pushing Peyton to turn around and confront them. 

"Hey! You." the girl turned, "Yeah I'm talking to you. Do you have a wish to have my foot stuck up your ass? 'Cause if you keep talking about my best friend that way you can guarantee it." she warned her before walking away.

"What a bitch." and the girls laughed once more, just as the music was stopped and a loud feedback sounded from the stage.

"Excuse me! Ladies and gentlemen!" that familiar voice made Haley turn her attention, much like everybody else, to the stage. "I have some important news that you all might want to hear." he started.

"As all of you know, I'm Lucas Scott." he introduced himself arrogantly as he continued to use that annoying little smirk of his, "And I'm here to fill you in on our new boy's past. Yes, I'm talking about Mr. Nathan Lee. The guy that we barely know anything about. Why don't you come up here?" Nathan continued to glare at Lucas, Haley attempting to get him out of the gym in case something more would motivate the two to engage in a fight.

"Okay, well then I guess I'll fill you guys in rather than Nathan there telling the truth. So, Nathan _Royal _Lee was born on August nineteenth to a Debra Lee. But, before I go on I've got to say he did a hell of a job pretending he was like us, didn't he? But he should know by now that all secrets come out in the end." Lucas dropped the microphone and walked off the stage, heading towards Haley and Nathan. "He's not rich, he's not even middle class. He has no father, and according to mine the kid's a Bastard child." he chuckled softly at himself as Haley pulled away from Nathan and looked at him.

Nathan could sense all eyes on him, but the only set of eyes he was worried about was a petite blonde girl's. The one's that were burning into his own that were filled with betrayal.

"In fact, apparently he's Dan Scott's unwanted child." he glared at Nathan.

The blonde, wide eyed and quite shocked stepped away from Nathan as he tried to reach to her, "Is it true?"

"Go ahead, Nathan. Tell the truth, for once." Lucas started.

Nathan looked around at the eyes glued on him, "Well-"

"Yes or no, Nathan." Haley demanded, "It's not that hard!"

"Well, yes. But it's not what you-"

"He lied to you Hales," Lucas interrupted the boy, "He made a fool out of you."

Haley turned to Lucas, anger written over her face as her gaze locked with his. "Who are you kidding? _You _made a fool out of me." she responded before running out of the gym. Peyton was about to go after her best friend, but stopped to see Lucas laughing at the scene he had just caused.

"Oh, Peyton. What now? Come to do me right here, right now?" he teased and before he knew it he felt a sting appear on his cheek. Peyton glared at Lucas, shaking her head not believing he'd stoop so low.

"How about this, Lucas? Why don't you stop being such a jealous jackass and realize for once, that not everything revolves around you. And you know what?" Peyton scoffed, "I'd start looking the hell around. Dont' think for even a second that any of these people will talk to you after school's over. Because guess what? They don't give a damn. The real world doesn't care what the hell you were in school, and as far as I can tell the only they'll see is a low, scheming son of a bitch who doesn't mean shit to anyone except when it comes to winning a stupid basketball game." And with that, Peyton ran after Haley.

Lucas chuckled, trying to remain his cool self and act like what Peyton had said meant nothing. "Women." he scoffed, "I think it's her time of the month again." he added shortly after as he watched Nathan walk out, before stopping him.

"Oh, and little brother? You should know by now that mystery, is overrated." Lucas smirked, but the only person laughing was Tim.


	16. In A World Far, Far Away

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** 14A  
**Chapter Summary:** (You know the drill)  
It's moving day for the Sawyers, and Haley tells the truth to her father while Lucas feels rejection after mumbling the wrong name.

* * *

**Chapter 16: In A World Far, Far Away  
**

Haley strummed her guitar as she sat outside on the deck that attached to her bedroom. She had started on this song for a few weeks now, not having enough pull to finish it. Well, that and everything that had been going on took her away from her song writing. But, now that she had been locked up in her bedroom for the past week, Haley had finally finished it. The past few days seemed to have strutted on, slower each day and each time she wished for the day to just be over.

_"How did I get here, turned around  
And there you were  
I didn't think twice or rationalize  
'Cause somehow I knew  
That there was more than just chemistry  
I mean I knew you were kind of into me  
But I figured it's too  
Good to be true"_

* * *

_**Twenty-Four Hours Earlier...**_

The blonde laid motionless on her bed, clutching onto her teddy bear that her mother had given her as she stared at her ceiling. It was times like these that she wished her mom would be around. She needed definitely mother-daughter talk, but she couldn't have it. She needed her mom... and that scared her. Closing her eyes tightly, she let the few tears cascade down her pale cheeks and she felt then run down until they fell to join the rest on her bed spread. "Where are you, Mom?" she whispered softly to herself before hearing her father call out for her from downstairs.

With a sigh, she sat up, placing the bear safely onto her perfectly made bed, just leaning against the middle pillow before walking out of her room. Walking down the hall, she caught a glance of her once perfect family portrait. James, Lydia and Haley all sat positioned. She remembered when it was taken, ironically a week before her mom actually left.

Wiping another tear with the back of her head, she trudged down the hallway towards the stairs, seeing the front door open and movers walking in and out of their home. Today was moving day, well not for her but for the Sawyers. They decided to move into the James' residence with it being large enough to accommodate the four of them. Sighing once more, she sat down at the top of the large staircase.

"Are you going to help, Haley, or just sit there?" Of course, she expected that response from her father. He had no idea what had been going on. Heck, she wasn't even sure if he had gotten the memo that she had broken up with Lucas. It wasn't a friendly thought to have that conversation with her Dad. Although she hated Lucas for what he had done, Haley knew that her father would get angry... and it could possibly escalate to the point where he'd ruin Lucas' chance to play basketball. Haley didn't even want to imagine how that would affect him, and don't even get her started on Dan.

"I was planning to just sit here and watch. I'll cheer them on." Haley joked, but by the tone of her voice it was fairly obvious that she wasn't that into it. The past week she hadn't even smiled, it was highly unlikely that she'd do it just to help out random movers that she was sure would steal something from them anyway. That was their support, as far as she was concerned.

Her father was up beside her in the next few seconds, finding a spot on the stairs to sit down, staring at her seriously. "What's going on, Haley-Bop?" he asked, his voice tenderly.

"Nothing." Liar.

"Nothing? So, you're just walking around like a zombie for fun? I don't buy it, Hales."

"Fine." Haley's voice was filled with agitation, "You want to know what's been going on with me? Usually, a father wouldn't have to ask his daughter that. You know, maybe if you paid one spec of a attention towards me as you do to your new girlfriend you'd know."

"Haley." her father warned.

"No, I'm done acting like it's okay." the blonde spat bitterly, "You didn't even ask me, Dad." Haley then shrugged, "You didn't ask me." she repeated as she watched him with a hurtful glance before getting up and walking back into her room, closing the door.

_"I said pinch me where's the catch this time  
Can't find a single cloud in the sky  
Help me before I get used to this guy"_

* * *

"Should we wait for Haley?" Anna Sawyer questioned as James came out with a platter of food, placing it in the middle of the table among many of the other things that occupied the spot. 

Peyton took a sip of her drink from the fancy glass, tracing along the outline of the design that decorated it. She knew something more was going on with Haley than the fact that they were now living together. The fact that the two girls were talking wouldn't make Haley not come down to dinner.

"Naw, lets just start." Haley's father responded, "I don't think she's up for public appearances tonight." he added shortly after, pouring himself some wine before offering some to Anna. Nodding her head, she stopped her boyfriend before it got to be too much and he put the wine bottle down.

"I'd ask you if you wanted some Peyton, but aren't you underage?" he joked softly, trying to lighten up the room and join Peyton in on the conversation. She had been kind of quiet, which wasn't an odd thing, but just the way that she looked - uncomfortable, sort of - was alarming him.

Peyton forced a smile, "I'm perfectly fine with my iced tea." she said back, trying to put it in her best humorous voice.

Peyton zoned out from the conversation as soon as paint colors for the master bathroom was brought up. The curly blonde wondered whether Haley was still having problems with the whole Nathan lying situation, but it wasn't like she could bring it up. The two girls had hardly seen each other since that night, let alone spoken about it. Haley had thanked her for sticking up for her, and that was that, telling her she'd be fine and that Peyton should go home.

The blonde sighed at the thought.

_"They say that good things take time  
But really great things happen in the blink of an eye  
Thought the chances to meet somebody like you were a million to one  
I can not believe it, whoa oh  
You're one in a million" _

* * *

Nathan sludged his food around his plate with his fork, not really hungry but eating in small bites as though not to worry his mother. "Nathan, what's wrong?" Deb finally asked. 

"Nothing, Mom." he added a sigh, before pushing his plate further away from him. "I'm just not that hungry."

Deb knew it was more than that, but debated whether or not to keep pushing the subject. Her son clearly didn't want to talk about it. "Is this about that Haley girl?" Looks like she chose pretty quick.

Nathan's head jolted up curious as to how she even knew about her. "You need to clean out your pockets before putting them in the wash." Deb responded, as though she had read his mind. Debra had been doing the laundry mindlessly, and knowing her son, she knew that he never took his things out of the pockets of his jeans and usually they ended up ruining the load of wash. She had found a piece of paper with Haley's name on it, and all the signs pointed to the fact that this girl had managed to sneak her way into Nathan's life and she had never even heard him mention her name once. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"

Nathan shrugged, hoping that was a good enough answer. Obviously it wasn't, as his mother continued to stare him down waiting for an answer. "I lied about where we lived. Well, actually how we lived." he told her honestly. His mom could always read him like an open book. He just guessed that was the bad part of being so close.

"What? Why would you do that, Nathan?" Deb was now definitely intrigued.

"She lives in a completely different universe, Mom. I mean, she lives in a community where the houses are like the White House." he explained, as though that would suddenly be a good enough reason for his actions, "Her dad's that Coach from the Charlotte Bobcats, and at first she was so nice that I decided to use that to my advantage... To get her father to notice me. And I know it was wrong, and I wish I could take it back-"

"Nathan..."

"But I didn't plan on falling for her, Mom. And I didn't plan on getting so wrapped up in her life that everyday I just wanted to call her in the morning to hear her voice. I didn't plan to hurt her, and I certainly didn't plan for it to hurt this much when she found out the truth."

"You should have seen her face Mom, it was like she had no idea who I was anymore." Nathan buried his face in his hands, his elbows having hit dramatically onto the table.

"Nathan." Deb repeated once more, getting up and sitting down beside him, rubbing his back comfortingly. "To be fair, she doesn't know who you are." she told him, pulling him into a hug.

_"All this time I was looking for love  
Trying to make things work  
They weren't good enough  
'Til I thought I'm through  
Said I'm done  
Then stumbled into the arms of the one"_

* * *

_"You're making me laugh about the silliest stuff  
Say that I'm your diamond in the rough  
When I'm mad at you  
You come with your velvet touch  
Can't believe that I'm so lucky  
I have never felt so happy  
Every time I see that sparkle in your eyes"_

"Hey Mr. Hotshot." a voice sounded from behind him. The blonde boy turned around with a smirk plastered on his face as he saw who was standing in his doorway. So she had gotten his message. Standing up, he gestured her to come closer before she took off her jacket, showing off her new lingerie. The smirk widened. "I heard you needed someone to keep you company." she whispered huskily.

Lucas cocked an eyebrow, grabbing a hold of her and pushing her onto his bed. "Well, who needs company with you around." he stated surely, leaning over top of her as their lips crashed against each other and she immediately moved her hands to take off his shirt.

"You're wearing too much clothing." she told him as he pulled away and took off his shirt.

"So are you." he muttered in between kisses, flipping them around so that she was on top as his hands made their way to her back to unclasp her bra.

_"They say that good things take time  
But really great things happen in the blink of an eye_

_Thought the chances to meet somebody like you were a million to one  
I can not believe it, oh whoa  
You're one in a million, (yea yea)"_

* * *

"Peyton." he moaned as their breathing quickened and their motions continued to get faster. Lucas tilted his neck as he felt lips attack his collarbone and moaned once more before finding her lips again. 

"Peyton?" the girl questioned, pulling away and stopping the momentum of their movements.

"Where'd you get that from? I didn't say Peyton." Lucas responded, wanting to get this over with before he came down from his high.

"Yes, you did. I'm not Peyton." she stated, pulling away from his attacking lips and pushing him off of her as he kept trying. "It's Brooke, buddy. And I don't do desperate horny guys." she stated arrogantly, grabbing her bra and panties before quickly slipping them on - almost as quick as they were taken off, and then grabbing her jacket.

"I think you need a reality check, Mr. Scott." the brunette added before leaving the room, along with leaving a now horny - more than ever - teenage boy.

_"All this time I was looking for love  
Trying to make things work  
They weren't good enough  
Til I thought I'm through  
Said I'm done  
Then stumbled into the arms of the one"_

* * *

_"I said pinch me_  
_ Where's the catch this time_  
_ Can't find a single cloud in the sky_  
_ Help me before I get used to this guy_

_They say that good things take time  
But really great things happen in a blink of an eye  
Thought the chances to meet somebody like you were a million to one  
I can not believe it  
Oh oh whoa yea yea_

_They say that good things take time  
But really great things happen in the blink of an eye  
Thought the chances to meet somebody like you were a million to one  
I can not believe it oh, oh_

_You're one in a million  
Yeah  
One in a million  
Yeah  
You're one in a million__"_

Haley stopped the strumming of her guitar as she finished the song and leaned against it as she stared at the sky, a sigh falling from her lips.

"That was a beautiful song." a voice startled her. Haley flew her head back towards the door where a large figure loomed over her.

"Thanks." she said quietly as he came to join her on the ground.

"You know, getting chairs out here wouldn't be a bad idea." he groaned as he sat down. Haley ignored his comment, giving him the signal that jokes weren't the appropriate thing to be saying. "Come on Haley, you've gotta let me in here. You can't keep pushing me away, I don't want us to be that way."

"I miss her, Dad." she blurted, "She's out there somewhere and it's like you don't care. Like you're trying to replace her with someone else."

"Sweetheart-" he started before getting interrupted.

"What if she comes home Dad? What if she comes home to a house where no one wants her. You really think that she won't leave again after that?" she spat.

"Hales, I looked for her for two months. Two months, and I barely got any sleep during those two months. The fact is, I don't want to make your mother come home. And she hasn't come back for a long time, Haley, and I haven't been happy for a long time. Anna makes me happy, she makes me feel special. Can't you understand that?"

"Yeah. It just hurts." Haley murmered quietly, feeling a hand on her shoulder as he pulled her closer to him.

"I know." he responded, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "Now, are you going to tell me what else has been going on? Like with Peyton?"

Haley sighed and shrugged her shoulders, staying close to her father so he couldn't see the hurt that suddenly occupied her eyes. "Nothing."

"Come on, Haley-Bop. I know you better than that."

"She's lied to me, Dad. She's lied to me about things for a whole year. A year. She betrayed me, and hurt me, and it's just... I don't need anymore of that." she muttered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I broke up with Lucas." she started and decided to just keep talking so he couldn't inerupt her. "He cheated on me, and what sucks is that it wasn't with someone I hated, or someone I didn't even know. It was her, Dad. My best friend for as long as I can remember went behind my back and started sleeping with my boyfriend!"

Mr. James was horrified at such a thought, Haley could feel his hand clench as he tried his best not to punch something right then and there. "Haley, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were always so busy." she answered after a few moments, "You were either out to dinner, or at work and it was like you didn't want to hear it."

"Haley, I always want to know what's going on with your life. Just because I work a lot, doesn't mean I suddenly don't care." Jimmy told his daughter.

"It's not just that..." she wiped away a tear that had found it's way out with the back of her hand quickly. "I just didn't want to disappoint you. You were just so keen on the idea of me dating Lucas that it was like you'd be disappointed that we broke up. You always said that you'd be so happy when we got married." she told him honestly. Of course, when he'd always say that they'd get married it was in a mocking tone, but Haley could tell he meant it.

"No, no, no. The only way you could disappoint me is if you did something that didn't make you happy. Haley, I only said those things because I thought Lucas made you happy." he kissed the top of Haley's head. "That's all I could ever want, Hales. For you to be happy."

"Even if that means being with a guy that lives in a world far far away from us?"

"What are you talking about now, Haley?" James sighed. He never understood women.

"Nathan. You know, the kid on the basketball team." she waited until she felt her father nod his head but didn't look up as her own head rested on his chest. "I love him, Daddy. But, he lied to me."

"Sometimes people lie because they're afraid of getting rejected because of who they are." her father told her.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Please read and review! The song in this chapter is "One In A Million" by Miley Cyrus, and it's set to Haley singing it throughout this chapter as there's 'flashback'-esque scenes put in with the lyrics. 


	17. The Potential Breakup Song Pt1

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG13  
**Chapter Summary: (Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled)**  
Karen lets Lucas know she knows about his infidelities, while Haley and Nathan finally talk. Peyton tells Mr. James and her mother to stop arguing and takes responsibilities for her actions, before bumping into Nathan.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Potential Breakup Song Part 1  
**

Lucas awoke to clothes flying in his face as a groan fell from his lips. Moving around the sweaters and shirts, he was able to see where these things were flying from and how. His mother. Karen Roe only woke him up this way when she was angry, and at the moment, Lucas knew of a couple of things that could make her as angry as she seemed.

"Get your ass out of bed." Karen growled, as she continued to throw things on the floor on top of Lucas and onto his bed.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Lucas whined.

"You betray one of your best friends," Karen grumbled, "You cheat on your girlfriend. If you think I was going to let you sleep in after I found out, you've got to be more clueless than I thought." she continued to pick things up from the ground and throw them onto the bed, and every now and again throw things into the laundry basket she held with one hand and the other side hugged her side.

"What are you talking about?" he groaned, sitting up finally and letting his reflexes react to a flying shirt that was flying towards his face.

"Haley, dumb ass." Lucas sat there shocked. He had hardly ever heard his mother curse. "You think I wouldn't find out? Mr. James called, he wants to have a word with you in his office immediately." she spat out.

"To talk about basketball?" Lucas questioned, his interest immediately taking a boost.

"Maybe. Or maybe how you screwed up your shot of getting on the team."

"What's for breakfast?" Lucas asked, ignoring his mother's comments.

"Oh, now you want breakfast?" Karen shook her head, grabbing an old sandwich that she found on the floor and tossing it towards her son, "Here." With that, she stalked out of the room, but not without mumbling a few words to herself, "I don't know how I got stuck with such a ... Slow son."

* * *

Haley was at school, clutching her text books to her chest as she headed towards where her exam was taking place. It was her first one of four, and she was catching up on a few things - hence the text books, before the actual exam. A nervous sigh fell from her lips. The only good part of ignoring her social life was getting more time to herself to study peacefully, although since the night that she had told her father the truth it hadn't really been quiet at home. It seemed Anna was taking Peyton's side... sort of, she wasn't quite sure, but her own father raised his voice more than once a day now - and it wasn't just at her. One of the reasons why she didn't want to tell him in the first place. 

Finding the building for English, she felt herself bump into a boy. A dark haired boy. "Sorry." He mumbled, scrambling to grab her books for her.

"It's alright." she whispered in response as she stood up and waited for him to hand her her books that she had tried grabbing but he beat her to it. Their eye gaze locked, and the blonde quickly looked away a moment later, not wanting to look him in the eye. She couldn't.

"Haley, can we talk?" Nathan finally spoke up, still holding her books.

"I've got an exam." she refused.

"Then we can talk right here until it starts." he decided, but Haley shook her head.

"Nathan, I don't want to talk to you, now if you could please just give me my books." But she was interrupted.

"Look, Haley. I know I lied to you about my life, and it may sound stupid but I thought you wouldn't be so nice when you found out where I lived and how I lived."

"I wouldn't have done that."

"I know. I know! But, the truth was, I was ashamed. I mean, a guy like me would never fit in with your group of friends. So, I made up a lie to be able to."

"Just one lie?"

"Okay, a lot. And I know that there's no reason for you to forgive me, but I used you, then fell for you. Not the other way around."

"You used me?" Haley was surprised at his wording. She didn't know that he had used her per say, she just thought that he lied to her to fit in with her and her friends.

Nathan looked down, ashamed and quite honestly regretting his choice of words. "I knew your father was the coach of the Charlotte Bobcats." he admitted. Might as well tell the truth now.

Haley scoffed, her face scrunching up as she softly laughed - but it was more of a scoffing laugh, like she was laughing at herself. "I don't believe this."

"Haley, please. Is there anyway you can forgive me? I'll do anything." Deja vu anyone? "I love you, Haley. Please."

Haley ignored his last comment, shaking her head. He couldn't say that, not after everything. "The point is Nathan, you lied to me. I have no idea who you are, where you live, who your mother is. I told you personal things, and you couldn't even tell me your address." she held out her hand. "My books, please."

Nathan sighed, handing her her books and watching her walk away towards her classroom.

* * *

"Overreacted!?" Mr. James exclaimed, dropping the plates into the sink in disbelief, turning around to face his girlfriend and new living partner, "My daughter was betrayed by her best friend and boyfriend of God knows how long, and you're saying she's overreacting!?" he scoffed. 

"Yes. It's not a reason to shut Peyton out. They should at least talk about it." Anna reasoned before shaking her head and putting some glasses into the cupboard.

"Stop it! Both of you!" a voice echoed through the room as the two adults turned to face a figure standing in the doorway to the kitchen. They hadn't known that anyone had been listening, but lately that seemed to be the case. "This has nothing to do with either of you. It's my fault that I messed up my friendship, okay? So just shut up and drop it." the girl spat out before leaving the room.

* * *

Peyton found herself at a park, on the borderline of Tree Hill and Charlotte. She had hopped in her car and taken a long drive, not wanting to go back to the house after just yelling at her mom and Haley's father. A sigh fell from her lips as she dug her shoes into the sand beneath the swing she found to sit on. 

A dark haired boy found himself a swing beside Peyton and sat down, glancing beside him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." she flew back.

"Well, I live just a few minutes from here." he answered, his voice just as stern.

"Not exactly mansion territory, is it?" sarcasm was thrown from her voice.

"Actually, it's more like small, one story homes." he said simply.

"Then I guess we're both liars who screwed up, huh?" Peyton scoffed somewhat, more at her own actions. Nathan chuckled softly and nodded his head in agreement.


	18. The Potential Breakup Song Pt2

**Story Title: **The Best Years**  
Synopsis: **He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating: **PG-13  
**Chapter Summary: **Haley and Peyton begin to form a new bond as the two girls keep a secret.**  
**

* * *

**The Best Years  
Chapter 18: Potential Breakup Song Part 2**

Haley had been home alone for the morning, and was enjoying the peace and quiet... finally. She had time to work on her music more, and after turning off her cell phone, she had time to not think about anything to do with the outside world. After studying for the last of her finals, which would soon be over in two days, Haley ran her fingers through her hair before hopping down the stairs, towards the kitchen. She felt her stomach growl at even the thought of food. Just before she was able to think about what she wanted, the doorbell rang.

A groan fell from her lips as she headed towards the front door. She pulled open the large brown door and lets just say if she had a glass in her hand it would've broken, and definitely added to the dramatic effect. "Hey Hales." a very familiar voice spoke as Haley stood there, her body frozen.

* * *

Peyton had finished talking to Nathan at the park before she headed back home, not having much else to do. The blonde had finished with her exams, and now, as far as she knew (unless she failed one of her exams) was a Duke University graduate. All she needed was the cap, gown and the certificate to prove it. In some ways, she was quite proud of that fact. But how she got there for the past months wasn't something she could be proud of. 

Walking into her new home, one that wasn't very welcoming, but she ignored that fact as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag. "Mrs. James?" she exclaimed, shocked at the sight in front of her. The voice startled the two women in front of her, but Peyton didn't seem to notice. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Haley's mother was in the kitchen, and Haley was actually _speaking _to her.

Peyton remembered when Lydia James had first left. Leaving her daughter and husband alone to fend for themselves. Haley had sworn to herself that she would never forgive her mother for doing such a thing. How she could leave her own daughter was beyond her. And now, here they were. Then again, maybe if Haley could give her mother a second chance... Then maybe she could give Peyton one? She didn't see that as too much to ask. Lets remember what Lydia James did, now.

"Oh! Peyton, sweetie!" Mrs. James responded, finally, with a large smile as she got up and wrapped the girl into a hug. "Come, sit, sit." she insisted, and Peyton had nothing to do but to oblige. "Haley-Bop and I were just chit chatting and catching up."

Peyton just nodded, staying silent as she shot Haley a questioning glance, but all she got was a simple shrug of the shoulders before being ignored. Something she had gotten used to. "Sooo... Tell me Peyton, what have you been up to?" Lydia interrupted.

"Oh, you know. This and that. Nothing too special." Peyton responded hesitantly, hoping not to get some shocking outburst from Haley about how she stole her boyfriend. But, Haley still remained quiet. Maybe she was having trouble processing everything like Peyton was.

Lydia nodded, glancing down at her watch. "Oh, look at the time! Boy does it fly when you're having fun!" she said, her voice so happy it hurt Peyton's ears. "I've actually gotta run. I've got a job interview. I'll see you two girls later?" she asked, Haley perked up and nodded her head, before Lydia kissed both girls' foreheads and skipped out of the kitchen.

"Well... that was..." Peyton started.

Haley got up out of her seat and went to the counter to grab a cookie, one of many that she had made during these past weeks while she had been studying and wanted something else to do. "You can't tell anyone she was here." she shot at Peyton.

"What? Why?"

"Because, she asked me not to tell anyone, which means you can't either. Especially my dad. She wants to surprise him or something, and before she can do that she wants to show him that she's back for good. Peyton, my mom's back!" Haley perked up at the words, but Peyton still was having trouble processing it all. How could she let her mom have a second chance, that fast? Especially when Peyton's been around all this time, and she was still getting ignored?

"Wait a minute... What about my mom? Where does she fit into this?"

"Peyton, it's my mom! And if I can get my family back, then I'm sorry but I want that second chance at it." Haley answered quietly, before finally meeting Peyton's eyes. "Please, Peyton. Don't tell anyone. I want to be able to trust you with this."

"Okay. Okay." Trust. That word always convinced her to do what Haley asked. That's what she wanted back, after all. "You can trust me, Hales."

* * *

"What did you girls do today?" Anna Sawyer asked, walking into the living room to find Haley and Peyton watching television. _Together. _At first, she thought she was hallucinating, but a smile traced her lips as she realized it wasn't. Even if they were on separate seating units, that didn't take away from her noticing they weren't fighting. 

Haley shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "Hung around. I'm taking in the fact that there's no more exams." she told the woman. The woman her father was dating. Haley James hadn't quite liked it, and she still didn't approve of the situation, but the truth was that Anna Sawyer was the mother she never had. Haley was always welcome at the Sawyer household (before it was her own house, too), and she went to Anna for any advice she had - the stuff she couldn't just come right out and talk about in front of her father. And that made lying to her that much harder. But Haley knew she had to, she had to if she wanted her mother to stick around. If she wanted her family back.

Anna nodded, walking into the living room and flopping down onto one of the arm chairs, making herself comfortable. "What about you Peyt?"

"Pretty much the same. Went for a drive, came back, watched TV." the blonde answered, understanding the glance she was receiving from Haley.

* * *

It had been a week now. One week. Seven days. Since Haley James had seen or spoken to Nathan Scott. And also since Nathan had stopped coming around to try and talk to her. Maybe he had finally given up. And if that was true, shouldn't she be happy? Shouldn't she be okay with the idea of being able to move on? Well, we'll let you in on a little secret; she wasn't. 

Haley muttered words underneath her breath as she fell back onto her double bed in her bedroom. Graduation was coming soon. Three days to be exact. Haley's mind hadn't quite wrapped around the idea that she was about to shape her future soon enough. And she had no idea what in the world to do about it.

Los Angeles was always a dream. It wasn't relaly something within reach for the girl. Sure, she had the money, but did she really have the motivation to keep going if someone didn't like her music? It wasn't as though Haley had let the whole world listen to what was going on in her life, through her own words, her own heart, her own words. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to bare that. And not to mention the fact that her father would most likely fly off the wall if she were to ever tell him that she wanted to do music as a career. He probably would tell her that she'd end up being one of those drugged up pop stars that end up in rehab centers before the age of thirty. Yeah, right. This was Haley James we are talking about.

The blonde ran one finger, her left ring finger, along the bed spread, staring at the moving finger as her mind was boggled with questions. That is, until she heard Peyton enter the room.

"Hey." Peyton spoke up, making her presence known.

Haley looked up, "Hey." she replied, her voice matching the uncomfortable feeling in the room, much like Peyton's own expression.

"So, I was wondering..." she stuck her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "If you would like to come shopping with me? I've got the money, and as far as I know, you still need a dress for graduation." Peyton offered up a small smile, hoping the girl would say yes.

Haley chuckled softly to herself, "Sure, it's not like I have anything better to do." she teased.

* * *

The two blondes had wondered around the shopping plaza, mindlessly going into stores and trying on shirts and jeans and dresses, and as if it were only for a moment, the two girls felt like they used to. They forgot about everything else, and became best friends again. Trapped in their own world. After four hours of being away from home, the two decided it was time to head back so their parents wouldn't think they were obducted or anything.

Getting back to the routine, Peyton banged her steering wheel along with the beat of the music as Haley shook her head aimlessly and sang along to the lyrics, throwing her hands into the breeze of fresh air when she felt the need to during the song. It was the perfect day, at least it felt that way. Especially to Peyton who had missed her best friend more than anyone could imagine.

Walking into the house, Peyton swung the door open, while Haley followed her movements and swung it closed. "Honey, I'm home!" the blonde called out, trailing behind Peyton towards the kitchen with many bags in her hand.

"In here." she heard a voice call out and made a confused face, more to herself, as she entered the room. "Hey girls." she greeted with a smile. The only big surprise was the fact that her father was serving her.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Please let me know what you guy's think. Read and review! New chapter coming soon. 


	19. Nothing Left To Say But Goodbye

**Story Title:** The Best Years  
**Chapter Rating:** PG  
**Chapter Summary:** It's graduation day, and everything tries its best to fall into its rightful place... With the help of a certain blonde.

* * *

**The Best Years  
Chapter 19: Nothing Left To Say But Goodbye  
**

Haley laid in bed the morning of graduation. She had gone this far, and honestly was scared out of her mind about what she was going to do next. The blonde's past few days seemed to be like a fairytale, but at the same time a nightmare. She knew her father wasn't okay with the arrangement, and part of her did feel guilty towards the fact that it was his want to keep their family together that made things end up this way. Because of _her_.

_"Please just try and understand, Anna." Mr. James spoke, his voice quiet and soothing as he took Anna Sawyer's hands in his. "If I have a chance to put my family back together, I have to take it."_

_Anna simply nodded her head, "I guess I should start packing." she sighed._

_"You don't have to go; you could stay in the guest bedroom. Your house has already been sold." Jimmy informed the woman. _

_"Jimmy, I have to go. It'll be easier this way." she answered quickly, walking out of the room only to come face to face with Haley James; who looked down as the woman walked by._

"Hales, time to wake up; don't want to be late for graduation." a voice interrupted her thoughts and she smiled softly.

"Mom?" she mumbled, her voice groggy as she rubbed her eyes.

"Dad's downstairs making us his famous chocolate chip pancakes. Gotta make sure our graduate is bright eyed for the next four hour ceremony." Haley chuckled softly to herself, it made her happy to see how excited her mom was about the whole thing. She hadn't been around to see her graduate high school, Haley guessed this was her making up for it.

"Alright, alright. I'll be down in a few." the blonde groaned, sitting up.

"Okay, and I want to take pictures before we go so put on your gown and cap at the house, alright?" she asked and Haley nodded simply.

* * *

"P. Sawyer, can we talk?" Haley talked above the loud crowd after she had made her way through the lines of students who were also graduating. They all looked the same which made things harder for the girl to find her friend. 

"Sure." Peyton said as she let Haley pull her over to the side, out of her designated spot in line.

"I never got to thank you for not telling anybody about my mom being here and everything; well until she outted herself."

"Like I said Haley, I'm always here; you can trust me."

"I know." Haley smiled as she offered up her pinky and Peyton laughed softly as she wrapped her own pinky around hers before the two girls followed each other in sync. Biting the tip of their thumbs, they pressed them together before bumping each other with their hips and jumping to the other side and doing the same thing. As they ended it with a secret hand shake routine and the girls laughed and Haley hugged her friend.

"I guess I should get back in line before we lose our spots, but I just want you to know that I was wrong." Haley said and noticed Peyton's questioning look. "When I said that I couldn't trust you again. We may not be able to be as great as before, but we can get close to it."

Peyton smiled as she watched Haley's retrieving back.

* * *

"Nathan Lee..." the Dean of the school announced into the microphone as Nathan skipped up the stairs and grabbed his diploma on stage, stopping to pose for his mother to take a picture. "... Peyton Sawyer..." Peyton grabbed the edge of her gown and pulled it up a bit, revealing her converse sneakers as she ran up the stairs and grabbed her diploma. Turning around, she let out a soft 'squee' like sound towards Haley as she showed it to her friend who was sitting in the valedictorian spot before heading off the stage quickly. "... Lucas Scott..." 

Lucas Scott got up onto the stage, grabbing his diploma as he soaked in the cheers but avoided the glare he felt burning a hole in his back from Haley. "... And last but certainly not least, this year's Duke University's class valedictorian - Haley James!" The blonde got up off her seat, took her diploma and felt her heart beating as she took a spot up at the podium.

Taking a deep breath, Haley found a few people to focus on; Jimmy James, Peyton Sawyer... and surprisingly Anna Sawyer. Anna had been the one to help her with the speech, and that's when she realized something... Something she had to do just after she finished her speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, fellow classmates, I was told to come up with something inspirational... and something from the heart... so I'll try my best."

_"Life. That word is full of so many possibilities. So many 'ifs'. But if I can ask of you all to do one thing - don't let those if's become what ifs. Don't let those possibilities pass you by because opportunities are rare, and regret shouldn't be something you're aiming for." _

_"A wise man once said, 'The important thing is not to be bitter over life's disappointments. Learn to let go of the past. And recognize that everyday won't be sunny and when you find yourself lost in the darkness and despair, remember it's only in the black of night you see the stars. And those stars will lead you back home. So don't be afraid to make mistakes, or stumble and fall 'cause most of the time, the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most. Maybe you'll get everything you wish for. Maybe you'll get more than you ever could have imagined. Who knows where life will take you. The road is long and in the end, the journey is the destination'."_

"Mom, can we talk?" Haley asked after the graduation ceremony had ended.

"Sure, sweetie. What's up? I was thinking we should go out for dinner tonight; celebrate getting to see my little girl graduate." Lydia responded, looking through a magazine in the kitchen of the James residence.

"Mom, you do know this isn't the first time I've graduated, right?" Haley questioned. Her mom was making such a big deal out of it, and at first it was nice. Nice to know she still cared. But after a few hours, Haley felt as though her mom didn't realize that when she left, she grew up and Lydia had missed important milestones of her daughter's life that she couldn't just relive.

"I know. But, I didn't get to see you graduate high school..." Lydia started.

"That's my point." the blonde blurted out. "Mom, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're here and everything, but you can't just come back and expect to just act like I'm just like I used to be. I mean, do you even know what my favorite ice cream is?!" Lydia stayed silent, "What about my favorite colour!?"

"That's easy; pink."

"No, mom! I hate pink. It's so girly and..." Haley stopped herself from babbling. "This is exactly my point, you know nothing about me."

"Then tell me about you. I can listen."

"I shouldn't have to tell my own mother these things. She should just know. She should know when I'm not okay with something, she should know when I'm not feeling well. She's supposed to make me chicken noodle soup when I have a sore throat and help me with boy problems and embarrass me in front of them." Haley rambled, "And you did nothing, Mom. You just ran away!? Mom's don't run away! They're supposed to be the strong ones. Dad wasn't supposed to live through all that alone. He's not supposed to be the mom and the dad, he's not supposed to be the one to pick up the pieces when a so-called mother skips out on her own family. And he's definitely not supposed to be the one to feel it's his responsibility to put this family back together." she sighed as Lydia continued to sit there, shocked.

"You don't deserve to be here. You don't deserve to celebrate my graduation from college, because lets face it - what have you done to help me get to where I am today? If anybody deserves to be here, it's Anna."

"What? Peyton's mother?" Lydia scoffed.

"She's been more of a mother to me, than you could ever be." she said softly, "You should go, Mom."

"Fine. I'll come back when you've settled down." she decided, standing up and turning to grab her keys before Haley interrupted her.

"No, I mean go. Like leave this house, and leave our lives. You'll always be my mother, and I'll always love you because I have to; but, that doesn't mean that I'm going to allow you to ruin our lives again. Dad was finally happy, and I'm not going to let myself be the reason for why he's not. So, I'm going to go somewhere, and you should be gone by the time I get back."

_"But as Cisero said, 'I hope the memory of our friendship is everlasting'."_

_"Before you leave on your life changing trip, grab a friend; take a road trip. You've had the last four years to build up great friendships and now... all you have left is a lifetime to keep them."_

"Hey Mrs. Sawyer, is Peyton here?" the blonde girl asked the woman who had answered the door to a hotel room.

"She just went to grab us some take out." Anna responded, pursing her lips as she contemplated letting the girl in or not. She knew she shouldn't blame Haley for why her and Jimmy split up, but it was hard.

"Oh, well could I talk to you right now then?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure. Come on in." Anna opened up the door further, "But I'm warning you; if this is some kind of ploy to get me back at your house you can save it, Haley."

"No, it's nothing like that... Well, it kind of is but my dad doesn't know I'm here." she spoke quick, almost starting to ramble like she usually did when she was nervous or was trying to think up something to say. "First I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my mom came back just in time to ruin your relationship with my Dad, and I'm sorry for the way I've been acting these past few weeks..."

"Haley - you're rambling." Anna stopped her with a small smile, "And it's okay. I get it. I would've done the same thing."

"No, it's not okay. My dad was happy again, he was singing in the shower - show tunes, might I add which made me want to almost hurt him but at the same time it was good. It was good to know that he was singing again; he hadn't done that since my mom left." the blonde smiled somewhat at the thought, "But I think what made it even better was the idea that it was because of you. You were always around, Mrs. S. Always. And even though I wasn't your daughter, you still made me feel like I was welcome at your home at anytime - and even to borrow your motherly advice."

"Haley-"

"Please, just let me finish." the blonde overpowered the woman's soft, soothing voice. "I realized today, that just because my mom's my mom, doesn't mean that she deserves the title. She walked out on us, and she shouldn't be allowed to come back into our lives and pretend like nothing happened. She missed so much, and mothers don't leave for years on end without even a word. I realized today that if I had to choose anyone to be my mom, it'd be you." Anna smiled through a small tear the trickled down her cheek as she listened to Haley.

"I missed my mom so much, that I just got blind sided by the fact that I always promised myself that if she came back, I wouldn't let her in so easily. I wanted my family back, and that idea of our perfect family we once had blinded me from realizing that I always had a family. You and Peyton were always a part of my family; and you guys never left." Haley blinked some tears away. "I told her to leave. My mom."

"Oh, Haley..." Anna started, "I thought I told you everyone deserves a second chance..." she said softly.

"She's had plenty of chances to come back." Haley responded bluntly, "And you just proved my point - _you_ told me. You taught me. It wasn't her. You taught me to be the person I am today - along with my Dad, but he's not so great at the advice part." she laughed softly as Anna nodded; agreeing. "She's just some woman that has the same DNA as me." Anna embraced Haley quickly and smiled to herself, trying to stop the tears (of joy) from ripping down her face and ruining her makeup.

"You've always been like a daughter to me, Haley; that's why I never kicked you out when you ate all my cookies." she teased. Haley laughed and stood up after pulling away from Mrs. Sawyer.

"Can you come to the house later tonight? Like at seven?" she questioned.

"Uhm, sure. I guess I can. Don't have much else to do." Haley smiled at her response.

"Great. Tell Peyton I stopped by and I'll call her later, I'm gonna head on out. I think I have something else to finish." she hesitated before nodding her head and walking out the door.

_"This is our chance. This is our chance to emerge into the real world and show it what we're made of. This is our chance to become everything we've ever dreamed of - but it's up to you to make your dreams come true. 'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.' Don't let anyone tell you that you're dreaming too high. Shoot for the moon because in the end if you miss, you'll land among the stars. And lastly, I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities and to the most special places your heart has ever known."_

_"Life doesn't owe us anything; in fact, I think we owe something to the world. And if we can just hold on... If we can just make it through to tomorrow we may just find that it was worth it..."_

"So, this isn't exactly a mansion, is it?" a voice interrupted a dark haired boy who was sitting in his room.

_"So let me be the first to congratulate you all on being Duke University's Class of Two-Thousand and Seven!"_


	20. Everything In Its Right Place Pt1

**Story Title:** The Best Years  
**Synopsis:** He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Chapter Rating:** PG-13 (For minor language and sexual references)  
**Chapter Summary:** Old memories come back to help everyone realize how they feel, while Haley makes a hurtful realization.

* * *

**The Best Years  
Chapter 20: Everything In Its Right Place  
Part 1  
**

"Haley." the dark haired boy exclaimed, standing up, quite startled. "Uhh - what are you doing here?"

"Your mom let me in..." Haley hesitated, "She seems really nice."

"She is." he responded quickly, nodding his head in agreement. Nathan always had a close relationship with his mother. "I really am sorry, Haley." he spoke after a few more moments of silence. "For lying... For pretty much everything. But, I'm not sorry for using you, because I managed to get to know a real great person who made me believe that there's more to people than the way they appear to be to everyone else."

"You know what? The truth is, it had nothing to do with you lying to me; I mean, yeah, it hurt me. And I do not appreciate being lied to, but the fact is, I have no idea who you are. Everything you ever told me was a lie, and now all of a sudden you're my ex-boyfriend's half brother?" Haley crinkled her nose up, trying to make sense of the whole idea. "And right now, I don't like the person you seem to be."

Nathan glanced down at the carpet, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Look, I didn't come here for an apology, I just came to say goodbye." Whipping his head up, Nathan glanced at her curiously. Goodbye? What did she mean by that?

"I'm leaving with Peyton to go to Los Angeles in a few days. I'm going to be busy packing so now was the best time to do it." the blonde told him honestly. Haley had decided to give herself a shot at a music career, and surprisingly, her father had been okay with it. And Peyton was going to try and get a job at a music company, or something along the lines. Either way, Haley just had to have her best friend with her. To push her. "I don't like leaving things the way we left them, so I guess, I just... I wanted to tell you I forgive you."

"What?"

"I forgive you." she repeated, "I forgive you for lying, and using me, and whatever else you did. But hey, look at it this way, it worked." Nathan opened his mouth to say something, but Haley stopped him. "You're going to be getting a call from either my Dad, or a guy named Harry. And they're going to offer you a spot on the team."

"But, why?" Nathan finally managed to speak up, "I mean, why would your father do something like that after what I did to you?"

"Because he'd do anything for me." the blonde stated simply, her voice soft as she swiftly made her way over to the tall boy. Pausing for a moment, she took in his smell as she stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. Once again, she hesitated before pulling away. "Have a great life Nathan, you deserve it."

* * *

"Soo?" Peyton dragged out the word curiously, jumping off the couch as she heard the door open and close to reveal Haley. "What happened?" 

"I said goodbye." the other blonde said simply, walking towards the kitchen, brushing past her friend and roommate.

"What!?" Peyton raised her voice, hurrying towards Haley. "What are you talking about?"

"You're the one that told me I should get some closure." she reminded Peyton, grabbing a bottled water from the fridge.

"But I meant like, make up with him and then make _out_ with him. Not end it forever. Haley!"

"I have no idea who he is, Peyt. I can't... have a relationship with someone and wonder everytime he tells me something if it's the truth."

"Hales, you've forgiven me, right?" Peyton was asking this question to make a point, but at the same time, deep down, she really wanted to know if her best friend had truly forgiven her or not.

"Yes, of course." Haley did, right? Peyton was her best friend, and she wasn't sure if she could ever hold a grudge that long towards her. Sure, she still wasn't talking to Lucas, and it took two to tango in that scenario, but... Lucas had betrayed her more times than she could count, it was harder to forgive someone who you've forgiven so many times before.

"Then why can't you forgive Nate? He may have lied, and schemed and used you -"

"Peyt, you're really not helping."

"Just let me finish. He may have done all that, but that doesn't mean that what you felt was a lie. That how _he_ felt was a lie. All I'm saying is that, the world works in mysterious ways to give you what you want, and what you need. Does it really matter how you two met, or how you two started? My mom always says to give people second chances, you've given me a second chance - why can't you do that for him?"

* * *

Peyton was packing up the things she was bringing to Los Angeles. She and Haley were bringing the essentials while their parents would bring some other stuff with them when they came up to visit. Some new furniture was needed, but Peyton already had that account set up for their allowance that their parents would chip in for. As she was looking through her dresser drawers, she came across a shoe box. Her breath caught in her throat, knowing exactly what it was. She had hid it in there so no one would find it. 

The blonde pulled out the box and lifted the lid to reveal many pictures and letters. Biting her bottom lip, the blonde picked up some of the pictures and set the box down on her stool in front of her makeup table in her room. Sitting down and crossing her legs, she continued to search through the pictures before settling on one that made her smile at the memory.

_"Hey! Chickeddie! Hurry it up, or we're gonna be the last in line again!" Lucas called out, stopping so the curly blonde could catch up with him. Grabbing onto her hand, the two raced towards the roller coaster at the seasonal amusement park just at the edge of town in Charlotte. Peyton had trouble keeping up, but whenever she fell just a little behind, Lucas would slow down for her, but they'd never stop. Not until they reached the rollercoaster's line up._

_It wasn't a very large amusement park, but the roller coaster was the best there was in North Carolina, and usually the line up was halfway through Charlotte if you got there too late. And Lucas hated waiting in line ups, so the two had to get there very early to make sure they wouldn't be waiting all day just to get on one ride._

_"Okay, we're here. We can stop now." Peyton pointed out the obvious as she huffed to get her breath back and Lucas laughed._

_"You wouldn't last one day at practice." he said with a smirk, offering some water to the blonde. Peyton took it and glared playfully, as though she were insulted, at him._

_"I never said I was a basketball player." she told him simply. The two continued to bicker, but it was simply for fun, while they waited for their turn to get on. Finally, after ten minutes, they reached the front of the line and got on. Peyton went one way, and Lucas went the other. She was never a big fan of heights, while Lucas couldn't wait to get freaked. A sigh fell from his lips before he noticed Peyton's hesitant look and he hurried over to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into one of the middle cars._

_"Relax, Peyt. The middle cars aren't scary." he reassured her, rubbing her hand comfortingly as they were locked in and the ride started. They went up, and down, up and down, and up again before down and going upside down. Peyton felt as though her insides were going to fall out. But, Lucas never let go of her hand, and he shot glances towards her every so often, and told her it was just a ride and it was almost over. And as Lucas told Peyton to smile, the curly blonde forced up a smile while Lucas threw his arms (and one of her own as their hands were intertwined) into the air and pretended to be just as scared in his facial expression. They bought the picture after the ride as proof that she had actually gone on a roller coaster she had sworn never to set foot even in the line up to. Of course, they both knew they could only show it to each other, but Peyton was still quite proud of herself. _

The blonde sighed as she relived the memory. Lucas was definitely a different person around her, but she knew that he always acted different when there wasn't an audience watching. Her and Lucas could never be, not if she wanted her best friend to stay her best friend. She couldn't go back, she had chosen Haley over the boy she knew she loved. The first boy she had ever loved, which was ironic since Haley had also once upon a time loved the boy too. Closing her eyes, she threw the pictures back into the box, and a few little notes they shared before closing it up and throwing it into her small trash can near her desk. Peyton took a look around, remembering she needed a new suitcase and exited the room quickly, trying to get Lucas off her mind.

Haley watched Peyton hurry out of her room, and little did she know she had in fact saw that smile flash on her face when she opened the box. Not knowing, but wanting to know, what was in it, she snuck into the girl's red painted room and grabbed the box from the trash can. Bending down, she rested the box on the top of her lap and lifted open the lid, seeing pictures of Peyton and Lucas bombarding her vision. She had to close her eyes quickly and shake her head before continuing. The sight of everything that had broken her heart killed her even more, but she wasn't quite sure what hurt her more - the fact that the two looked extremely happy around each other, or the fact that it had been behind her back.

Throwing the lid back on, she let it fall back to where it had been before and exited the room, grabbing her car keys and a sweater from her room. "Peyton! I'm heading out for a bit, I'll be right back." she called to her best friend before exiting the house.

* * *

"You've got a visitor." a voice called from downstairs up to a blonde boy who was laying on his bed, throwing a basketball up and down into the air. He had been awaiting a call from the Charlotte Bobcats. His spot on the team was always confirmed, but he knew that it was a bit sketchy now that he and the team's coach's daughter had broken up. And even more so, the fact that he had cheated on his daughter. A grand move by Scott. 

"Who is it, Mom?" Lucas asked as he turned the corner to enter the kitchen, only to see a blonde girl sitting on a stool near the island in the kitchen, sipping some coffee his mother had given her.

"Haley..." he hesitated, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just came to hang out with my favorite person in the whole world." she responded sarcastically.

"You're not here just to hit me, are you?"

Haley laughed softly at the idea, "No, but it sure would be fun. I'm not here because of me, I'm here because of Peyton."

"What? Why?" he wasn't quite sure he understood what she was talking about. Was it to tell him off again, or did something happen to the curly blonde he soon found out he loved?

"Because I need to know whether you love her or not." she let it flow out into the open. Haley knew that the answer would end up hurting her, but she had to know.


	21. Everything In Its Right Place Pt2

**Story Title:** The Best Years

**Synopsis:** He had a passion for basketball, she had all the right connections to make his dreams possible. How far would you be willing to go to make your dreams happen?  
**Rated:** PG  
**Chapter Summary: **Peyton Sawyer and Haley James wrap up their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina before heading to Hollywood, to make their next dreams come true. But, they leave behind more than they thought they would.

**Author's Note: **This is the last chapter of the story, so I really hope you enjoyed it and I am sooo sorry for the long wait you all had to go through, haha! The song at the end of this story is an unreleased song by Tyler Hilton called "Girl Who Got Away", a song that I am hoping will be on his new album. If you would like to listen to it, just search it on youtube and there are some good versions of it out there. I listened to it while writing the ending, which is kind of what inspired it, so if you would like to listen to it while reading, I encourage you to do so . I'm not sure if I'm going to mess with this story I'm quite proud of and do a sequel, but you guys should let me know and maybe if y'all want it I'll do one!

So, please, read and enjoy the last chapter of "The Best Years".  
Special thanks to all who subscribed and reviewed - you guys kept me from giving up on this story.

AngelOfDeath07 (I always loved reading your reviews for your reactions), HJS-NS-23, xxbabii (I loved your detailed reviews of your thoughts and reactions), elosie09, naley19, and last but certainly not least Loves A Fool for your inspiration at the very VERY beginning of this story. And thank you to all whose names were not mentioned too, please don't feel like I am any less thankful to you guys too.

* * *

**The Best Years  
Chapter 21: Everything In Its Right Place  
Part 2  
**

"Haley..." he hesitated, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just came to hang out with my favorite person in the whole world." she responded sarcastically.

"You're not here just to hit me, are you?"

Haley laughed softly at the idea, "No, but it sure would be fun. I'm not here because of me, I'm here because of Peyton."

"What? Why?" he wasn't quite sure he understood what she was talking about. Was it to tell him off again, or did something happen to the curly blonde he soon found out he loved?

"Because I need to know whether you love her or not." she let it flow out into the open. Haley knew that the answer would end up hurting her, but she had to know. After a few impatient moments, Haley once again forced the question, "Well?"

"How am I supposed to answer that?"

"With a yes, or a no, Lucas. It's not rocket science."

"Yes." The words hit her like a shot to the chest as Haley stood there like a deer just about to get hit by a car. She expected as much, and she thought she would have been prepared for his answer. She thought it wouldn't hurt. She thought that the feeling of betrayal she felt before wouldn't come back, but it had. All of it had, and in that moment all she could think of was how fast she could get out of there.

"Good to know." she mumbled, shaking her head. What an idiot she was. "I'm gonna go now. Let you get back to whatever it was you were doing." she rambled, turning around to exit the room.

"Wait, Haley." Lucas reached for Haley's wrist and kept her from walking away, "I'm sorry. I know I was a total ass to you, and you didn't deserve it. You never did. You don't deserve a guy like me, and I know I don't deserve a second chance. I just, really hope you can forgive me. I don't think I'd be here if it weren't for you."

"And that's the truth." he added shortly after, letting Haley's wrist go as quickly as he realized he was still holding onto the girl. Haley nodded her head, trying to show her appreciation yet let him know she wasn't letting him off the hook at the same time. He knew it wouldn't be that easy. Haley was stubborn, if there was one thing he had learnt throughout the years, it was that he was going to have to fight for her trust again.

"I'll probably see you around sometime. I'm warning you now - just don't kill Nathan."

"Wait - what are you talking about?" Lucas cocked an eyebrow.

"The team. My Dad's team." Haley responded with a shrug, before heading out of the room. Did the boy just hear what he thought he had? Did he really get on the team? "Just answer your phone when it rings, Scott."

* * *

Haley had been able to get home without punching anything at the idea of what was happening. How could her boyfriend of years and years be in love with her best friend? She had told herself earlier on that there would be no asking, or wondering, how long the affair had truly been going on. That their wandering eyes had been finding each other. That when Lucas would drop her off on their date nights that he would leave and find Peyton to finish off his night. Now she truly understood how Lucas could have been so understanding about Haley wanting to wait to have sex. He had her best friend to make up for what she didn't hand out. A sigh slipped from her lips as she parked her car in the driveway and sat for a few moments, staring up at the house she had lived in for most of her life. It was then that she really was regretting her choice. Could she really give them her blessing? They had hurt her in one of the worst ways possible. How could she sit back and watch them, knowing that their whole relationship was based on lying to her?

Grabbing her bag and taking the key out of the ignition, the blonde opened up the door to her car and headed towards the front door, letting herself into her house.

"Haley!? Where have you been?" a voice stopped her in her tracks, and Haley turned around on her heel - halfway up the stairway, seeing a blonde standing down on the landing.

"Just taking care of some things before it's too late." The older woman quirked an eyebrow curiously at the young graduate.

"Tell me the truth now, Haley."

"Anna, how am I supposed to be able to just forgive and forget and allow it to ... be?" Haley asked the woman hesitantly, not sure how to word her question so that it would be understandable. Taking a step down one of the stairs, she sat down on the top step while Anna followed her way up the steps and found a spot beside the girl.

"I don't know, Hales, but you can't hold it against them forever. It'll just eat you up inside, until you're bitter and angry at the rest of the world." Anna scooted closer to Haley and wrapped an arm around the other blonde. "There's no weakness in forgiveness, Haley. And if you can't forgive them, you can't really punish them either. You and Peyton have come so far, I don't think I can believe you guys can't get through this - one boy."

"It's not so much about that, it's just ... I found out today that that one boy loves her. And it's just ... I know Peyton has feelings for him too, but I don't think I could go through watching them be together when I know their relationship started out lying to _me_. I told myself a while back that I wouldn't let myself think about how long they had been lying, but it's hard not to think about it when it turns out he loves her, when he's supposed to love _me_."

"You've always known what to do, Haley. I can't help you with this one, this time." Anna cracked a small, sympathetic smile, squeezing the girl's shoulder lightly and kissing the side of her head before disappearing up the stairs.

* * *

It was the night before Haley James and Peyton Sawyer were set to leave town to Los Angeles, and in result, their parents were throwing them a going away party. "Nathan ... What are you doing here?" Haley asked, seeing the brunette haired boy coming through the front door of the Sawyer-James residence, the blonde found her way fully down the stairs as she reached Nathan Lee.

"Your uh-Dad, invited me." the boy replied hesitantly, "Is it okay that I'm here?" He couldn't help his eyes from wandering over the girl who looked perfect in her little black dress that hugged her in all the right places, showing off her curves.

"Yeah, sure. I've decided that I'm not leaving anything on a sour note."

"Good, 'cause I was hoping I didn't waste thirty bucks on this new shirt for nothing." Nathan joked lightly.

"Well, you didn't. And might I add, it fits you very well." she responded with a small smile, smoothing out his collar before stepping back, realizing that maybe what she had just done wasn't the best choice. "Uh - Want a drink?"

"I'd love one."

Peyton smirked lightly to herself as she watched the interaction between Haley and Nathan, patting herself on the back for getting Mr. James to invite him to the party. Little did she know, she had a surprise coming for herself, but that was for later. For now, she was focused on chatting with some friends and refilling the punch bowl. "So, my grown up daughter, are you enjoying yourself?" she heard a voice question.

"Yeah, thanks Mom." she responded, turning around before finding herself caught in an embrace. Her mother had been exceptionally affectionate for the past week, and Peyton had allowed it, knowing it was just her leaving finally hitting her mother.

"Oh-Oh! You have a guest asking for you." the woman soon changed the subject, pulling away from her daughter and turning her in the direction of a blonde haired boy in the corner of the room - obviously feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

"Why is he here?" she whipped around to her mother who simply shrugged and nodded her head towards Haley who was watching her while hanging around Nathan. Sending her a questioning glance, Haley nodded as though forcing her to go see him without having to give her a physical push. Peyton went, hesitantly, over towards the blonde. "What are you doing here, Lucas?"

"I came here to tell you I hope you have a good trip, and that I'm sorry, and ... to ask you to dance." he rambled, pausing briefly to wonder whether Peyton would actually agree. The curly blonde turned to look at Haley who winked at her with a sly smile, before she turned around and looked at Lucas' offering hand.

"Fine. But you say one stupid thing and you're out of here." she warned, taking his hand in hers before they found their way to the dance floor and a slow song came on.

"Haley -" Nathan offered the blonde his hand, and Haley nodded, taking it.

"Don't go thinking this is a free pass for you to feel me up, though." she added, with a smirk to show she was only kidding around. There was the old Haley.

"Aw, well I might as well just leave then." Nathan responded as they got to the dance floor and his hands found their right position - on her lower back, and the other intertwined in hers.

_I can't believe it's cold enough to wear this coat I just put up  
With every step on crowded streets  
I'll hold my breath to watch it leave  
It never sounded quite as nice you said my name  
And closed your eyes  
One more shot will get me to the morning  
One more night will get me through today  
If all I had was one more word  
Than all that I could say  
I would say goodbye to the girl who got away_

"I never thought you'd be allowed in this house again." Peyton told Lucas honestly, as the couple swayed as one to the song.

"Yeah, me either. But, actually, Haley called me." Peyton's head shot up curiously, and Lucas shrugged in response, "I uh - told her, I loved you."

"Wha-?" she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Was he lying again?

"I uh - I love you Peyton. I mean it."

"I don't believe I'm hearing this." Peyton's eyes widened in disbelief. Lucas Scott _l__oved_ her? Those were three words she never expected to hear from _him_.

"Not exactly the correct response, but I guess I'll take what I can get." he forced a short lived, awkward, laugh, before being interrupted by Peyton's lips crashing down on his own.

"I love you too." she said softly, before he kissed her once again.

_I see your face it's everywhere I hear you name you're never there  
One more shot will get me to the morning  
One more night will get me through today  
If all I had was one more word  
Than all I that could say  
I would say goodbye to the girl who got away_

_We talked about the film you'd seen  
It remined you of you and me  
From the glass of wine for which I paid  
'Til I caught the cab you took away  
One more last shot will get me through 'til morning  
One more night will get me through today_

_"Whatever it takes, as long as it takes... I'm not going anywhere." he whispered in her ear, "I'll be here when you get back."_

"Promise?" Haley questioned quietly.

"Promise." he repeated. And so, Nathan Lee received everything he could have ever dreamt of; a spot on the Charlotte Bobcats basketball team, an education from Duke University and hope. Hope that this girl, Haley James, would return to him someday and be able to love him, like he loved her. And, if you were to ask him if he would take back his lies, he may say yes, but he would never take back the chance he got to fall for Haley James. And that, well that was a fact.

_If all I had was one more word_

_Than all that I could say_

_I would say goodbye to the girl who got away_

_Goodbye to the girl who got away_

_I would say goodbye to the girl who got away_

**THE END ... FOR NOW.**


End file.
